Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
LUND UNIVERSITY MASTER THESIS
Malmö Academy of Music 2010
Department of Music Education Supervisor: Anders Ljungar-
Chapelon
Luis De La Calle
THE QUENA AND THE SIKU. II:
A comparison between Bolivian and Peruvian tools in
learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the Quena
and the Siku.
1
ABSTRACT In this study, I investigate the tools of learning, practicing and teaching a tune on
the quena (Andes end-blown flute) and the siku (Andes panpipes) in Bolivia and Peru.
This is a study in music education of quena and siku performers and teachers on a
professional level within the Andean flute tradition. The empirical study consists of
interviews of five important quena and siku players. Two players are from Bolivia
and three players from Peru.
The theoretical and methodological framework is based on hermeneutics which
has created possibilities to interpret and articulate this empirical study. I also de-
scribe imitation and memory as tools within the Andes flute tradition.
The results illustrate a comparison in tools of learning, practicing and teaching
tunes on the quena and the siku between Bolivia and Peru. One of the main find-
ings is that players differ in terms of the content and methods used while practic-
ing a tune on the siku; teachers also differ from one another in terms of how they
learn a tune on the quena. These differences depend on which country the players
represent.
An area of further research is suggested concerning a comparison between the In-
ka, Japanese and Indian flute tradition regarding tools which are possible to inte-
grate in playing and teaching on the quena and the siku.
Keywords: arca, aymara, huajachi, imitation, interpretation, ira, quechua, quena,
siku, sikuri, traditional music.
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ....................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1
Introduction and research area ..................................................................................... 6 1.1. The oral tradition ................................................................................................... 6
1.2 The written tradition ............................................................................................... 6
1.3. Research question .................................................................................................. 9
1.4. My role as a researcher of the Quena and Siku ..................................................... 9
1.5. The scope of my investigation ............................................................................... 9
1.6. Research ethical point and statements ................................................................. 11
1.7. Structure and disposition of the study ................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 2
Earlier Research ........................................................................................................... 12 2.1. Americo Valencia ................................................................................................ 12
2.2. Alejandro Vivanco ............................................................................................... 12
2.3. Other important texts ........................................................................................... 13
2.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 3
Theoretical background ............................................................................................... 17 3.1. Hermeneutic foundations ..................................................................................... 18
3.2. Imitation .............................................................................................................. 19
3.3. Memory ............................................................................................................... 19
3.4. Learning a tune .................................................................................................... 21
3.5. Practicing a tune .................................................................................................. 24
3.6. Teaching a tune .................................................................................................... 26
3.7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 4
Methodology .................................................................................................................. 29 4.1. The selection of the interviewees ........................................................................ 32
4.1.1. Idel Mamani ................................................................................................. 34
4.1.2. Carlos Ponce ................................................................................................ 35
4.1.3. Rolando Encinas .......................................................................................... 35
4.1.4. Jaime Arias .................................................................................................. 35
4.1.5. David Pariona .............................................................................................. 35
4.2. The realization of the interviews ......................................................................... 35
4.3. Interpreting the data ............................................................................................. 35
4.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 39
3
CHAPTER 5
The study ...................................................................... Fel! Bokmärket är inte definierat.
5.1. Short flute history ................................................................................................ 39
5.1.1. History of the Quena.................................................................................... 40
5.1.2. History of the Siku ....................................................................................... 41
5.2. The Siku ............................................................................................................... 41
5.2.1. Learning a tune by listening to the teacher and recordings ......................... 43
5.2.2. Practicing a tune-contents and methods ...................................................... 43
5.2.3. Teaching pupils how to practice .................................................................. 46
5.2.4. Teaching a tune-the framework: technical exercises and words ................. 79
5.2.5. Using the teacher's model of playing and playing together
with the students .................................................................................................... 49
5.3. The Quena ........................................................................................................... 51
5.3.1. Learning a tune by listening to the teacher and recordings ......................... 52
5.3.2. Practicing a tune-contents and methods ...................................................... 54
5.3.3. Teaching pupils how to practice .................................................................. 57
5.3.4. Teaching a tune-the framework: technical exercises and words ................. 57
5.3.5. Using the teacher's model of playing and playing together
with the students .................................................................................................... 58
5.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 60
CHAPTER 6
Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 62 6.1. Using my findings in a music school................................................................... 69
6.2. Relating my findings to other traditions and the origins of the Andean flutes .... 71
6.3. Future research .................................................................................................... 69
6.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 71
7. REFERENCES 7.1. Literature ........................................................ Fel! Bokmärket är inte definierat.
7.2. Internet ............................................................ Fel! Bokmärket är inte definierat.
7.3. Interviews ............................................................................................................ 79
8. APPENDICES
8.1 Appendix I ............................................................................................................ 80
Interview guide ............................................................................................................. 80
8.1.1. Learning a tune ............................................................................................ 80
8.1.2. Practicing a tune .......................................................................................... 80
8.1.3. Teaching a tune ............................................................................................ 80
8.2 Appendix II ........................................................................................................ 81
DVD ............................................................................................................................... 81
4
PREFACE The present study of the quena and siku flutes is a description, investigation and
analysis of instrumental and pedagogical research concerning the tools of learning,
practicing and teaching a tune on these instruments in Bolivia and Peru.
Since many years ago, my investigation has been focused on these tools from an
Andes oral music tradition perspective which are based on the musical learning
since childhood in the Andes through observation and experience of life in differ-
ent daily activities.
These tools have been integrated with several tools from Western music as, sight-
reading, solfege, scales, and etcetera in order to incorporate them in a music school
or academy of folk music in both countries. From a research perspective, the inte-
gration of my horizon of understanding and my artistic and instrumental skills on
the quena and the siku has contributed to an in-depth description of the tools con-
cerning learning, practicing and teaching a tune on these instruments.
To transmit the oral Andes music context into a literal academic tradition has been
a challenge and it would not have been possible without the support from my
teachers at the master course in music education at Malmö Academy of Mu-
sic/Lund university in Sweden.. Therefore first of all I would like to express my
gratitude to my tutor, Anders Ljungar-Chapelon for inspiration, and helpful discus-
sions. I also thank Gunnar Heilling for encouragement on this long process of writ-
ing, and Peter Berry who has helped me to get access to articles and other publica-
tions. Karl Maybach deserves acknowledgement as a language consultant.
I would like to mention my gratitude to Cecilia Monteagudo at the Philosophy fa-
culty of the Catholic University in Lima, Peru, for her inspired explanations about
hermeneutics and Gadamer. I would also like to thank Sari Pekkola at the sociology
program at Kristianstad University College for her guidance to get information
about valuable research works concerning this study. I would also like to send
warm thanks to all my interviewees from Bolivia and Peru for their confidence in
my project.
5
Finally I wish to express my warm thanks to my parents and Shirley Cano Medina
for their support and involvement. They have listened to me patiently and dis-
cussed my ideas during the entire process of my research.
6
CHAPTER 1 Introduction and research area
On this chapter, I present and explain different ideas and thoughts which are some
of the foundations concerning playing and teaching of Andean flutes. The aim is to
describe, investigate and analyze from a hermeneutic perspective the tools for
learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the quena (Andean end-blown flute)
and the siku (Andean pan pipes); it also compares the similarities and differences
in these approaches between Bolivia and Peru, which represent two different flute
traditions in Andean music.
This study represent my horizon of understanding where performing and teaching
both instruments has been an intensive research area of the most considerable and
important years of my life; their playing techniques in a teaching situation has
brought me into go deeper in how to deal with a tune concerning learning, practic-
ing and teaching situations.
As an of introduction I present the oral tradition which is based the original way of
learn the Andean flutes and the written tradition where the oral tradition has de-
veloped some ways of reading music in music schools in Peru and Bolivia and
academies of folk music in Peru. This chapter presents also my own role related to
this empirical investigation, the research question, the aim, the scope of my inves-
tigation, research ethical point and statements and the structure and disposition of
the study.
1.1. The oral tradition
The oral tradition in the Andes is based on the transmission of knowledge through
songs, myths, tales, legends and histories which allows a communication from a
major generation to a young one (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009). The
elements of oral transmission are imitation, memory and performance (Schippers,
2010). These educative elements based on the oral tradition are considered as the
7
most important sources which are used in the traditional societies in the Andes in
order to foster the individual identity and the respect of the own cultural values
(Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009).
The combination of working duties (in the fields, taking care of livestock etc), the
playing of the children, the transmission of the tales, legends, myths and the musi-
cal learning, become a foundation of the education of the children in the Andes
(Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009).
Music making in the Andes is considered as a social cultural phenomenon (Saljö,
2000). When the child gets his first instrument, he/she begins to play around with
it together with other children; then comes the challenge to produce a strong
sound or to interpret a particular melody which is used to reproduce the memo-
rized melodies which originally were sung daily by the family. Then, he/she will
interact taking part in a siku band with other players. In this way the children are
raised in a social cultural interaction through communication with their surround-
ings and without such interaction, there is not a way of oral transmission (Suzuki,
1977).
“Education…inculcates, brings out, and develops the human potential, based on the
growing life of the child” (Suzuki, 1977, p. 98). Man grows and develops to high
level according to the way he is raised (Suzuki, 1977).
One example of an oral tradition is the Suzuki Mother Tongue Method, which is a
method that seeks to emulate the process of learning the mother tongue. The deve-
lopmental possibilities when the child speaks his language fluently are a model for
other abilities which may be developed according to the way a child is raised.
Children live, see and feel the music in the Andes and their ability develops to fit
surroundings. In this way the child can develop excellent abilities with a good edu-
cation (Suzuki, 1981).
Ability can not be developed without a certain amount of training. The child’s abili-
ty to play a tune will be internalized by the continuous repetition of the daily lis-
tening. In the Andes, the child while playing around with other activities listens
daily to a melody from his mother while she is doing the domestic duties. Due to
8
this natural and pleasant way to listen regularly a melody at home, the ability to
play a tune in the child grows carefully while the child is having fun and happiness
of doing it better and better. Then he/she will enjoy playing together with others
who are more advanced influencing enormously their playing.
1.2 The written tradition
Since the 1960s, the quena and the siku have become very fashionable to play. Mu-
sic groups of Andes music in all ages in Andean and South American cities play
these instruments. Their playing techniques have developed and now integrate
aspects of Western aesthetics (De La Calle, 2008).
Because of this trend, researchers of the quena and the siku became interested in
communicating ways of playing these instruments by transcribing Andean melo-
dies, creating written scores using western tools and interpretations to bring it
into a systematic way to learn, practice and teach. In this way these researches´
purposes was to give permanence to musical expression so that Andean music can
be transmitted in other periods of time in a permanent and unchanging form (Fin-
negan, 1988) not only to function as conservation but to transmit a whole way of
thinking about Andes music (Schippers, 2010).
Learning, practicing and teaching techniques for the quena were developed based
on the nomenclature and tessitura system of this instrument for writing musical
scores, marking dynamics and various tools of interpretation, especially orna-
ments. This was established by Vivanco in 1964 (Vivanco, 1987). In 1982, Theve-
not, a Swiss flute player, used the tools of interpretation from the Western flute on
a score for the quena (Thevenot, 1984).
In the sixties, Cavour designed a system based on numbers for writing melodies
and introduced a way to learn, practice and teach the siku from scores with both
rows played by just one player. He used this to play Latin-American diatonic music.
Many years later, he introduced the chromatic scales played by a chromatic siku of
three and two rows (Cavour, 1994).
9
1.3. Research question
The aim of this study is to investigate the tools concerning learning, practicing and
teaching a tune on the siku and the quena in Peru and Bolivia.
Therefore I pose the question:
What are the tools for learning, practicing and teaching a tune on siku and quena in
Peru compare to those in Bolivia?
1.4. My role as a researcher of the Quena and Siku
Andean music has influenced me all my life. I learned the quena and siku as a child,
applying the oral tradition by imitating melodies of various styles from South
America, especially Andean music from Bolivia and Peru. It was a long and inten-
sive process of listening to records of Andean music, including groups like Kjarkas
and Savia andina (Bolivia), Blanco y Negro (Peru) and prominent quena players
like Uña Ramos (Argentina) and Thevenot (Switzerland).
Peru is divided into three regions: the coast (Afro Peruvian music), the Andes
Mountains (Andean music) and the Amazon jungle (Amazon music). There are
hundreds of diverse towns with varying customs, where each town has its own
way of expressing the daily activities in, for example, food, textile, communal
works (each commune with its own way of thinking), etc. Because of this, each
town has its own musical styles and rhythms, different kinds of quenas and sikus.
I learned several of these different styles by listening and traveling around Peru.
The process of learning begins with singing the melodies along with the music,
then reproducing them on the instruments and getting to learn a long repertoire
while at the same time learning playing techniques, history and aesthetics. In this
way, I was in direct contact with the tradition. At this stage, I began to understand
that these are not only wind instruments in the technical aspect, but also instru-
ments that express the essence and spirit of a millenarian culture: the Inca.
When I was a teenager, a Japanese actress heard a concert that I played in Lima
and invited me to Japan to make a career of performing and teaching in music
10
schools and giving private lessons on the quena and siku. Teaching intensively on
the quena and the siku several years in Japan, I got not only a valuable pedagogical
experience in learning, practicing and teaching Andes and Japanese tunes on both
instruments but also the interest to develop them in a richer rhythmical technical
aspect, therefore I went to India where I studied and integrated basic knowledge of
the South Indian improvisation on the quena and siku.
My experiences in Japan and in India expanded my horizons as a researcher of
quena and siku because these cultures express similar origins and much of the
same essence as the Inca (with varying levels of depth). In my opinion, the three
cultures express a common purpose in flute playing which it is to play from the
heart; some technical similarities in breathing and, ornamentation such as glissan-
dos. I applied these insights through a total integration between me, as a player,
and my instruments while learning, practicing a tune and performing on stage on
both instruments. After this long experience of ten years, I got the opportunity to
apply these experiences on the quena and siku to western music by developing
them at the Malmö Academy of Music under the performance and education pro-
grams where I integrated several tools from Western flute playing and teaching on
the quena and siku.
My inspiration continues today, playing the quena and the siku within Andean mu-
sic and in the style of world music through recordings, concerts, university teach-
ing, workshops and flute conventions internationally.
1.5. The scope of my investigation
This study is about the tools used for learning, practicing and teaching a tune on
siku and the quena in Peru and Bolivia within the context of traditional Andean
music. My study is based on interviews with five performers and teachers of these
instruments, all of whom are professionals at an expert level. There is no discus-
sion of countries outside of Peru and Bolivia nor is there discussion from a socio-
logical perspective.
11
1.6. Research ethical point and statements
All the information that the five interviewees provided was interesting and impor-
tant. I consider that this research will not create the risk of future complications
for the interviewees. The interviewees were informed that the interviews would be
used for research, with the future purposes of being published and distributed. The
five interviewees agreed that their interviews would not be anonymous. I have
made a DVD of the interviews and performances, which is included with this study.
I have informed the interviewees that they will be on the DVD and received their
authorization to gather these materials and show them to the public.
1.7. Structure and disposition of the study
The investigation of this study is descriptive and qualitative. It will be organized
after the following structure:
1. Introduction and research area.
2. Previous research by others.
3. Theory (including research perspective and the interpretation with points of
view of the artistic learning process (interpretation and practicing) and teaching
(tools of approaching for the pupils)).
4. Methodology (a description of my choice of method and various aspects; for ex-
ample the way I ask questions, how I will interpret the interviews, etc.; I am also
bringing up the form of the interview and a description and realization of it).
5. Study (present my data and findings with the help of illustrated quotations from
the interviewees).
6. Discussion.
The DVD included with this study shows, for example, how the interviewees in-
terpret the same tune several times, adding gradually different music elements as
dynamics and ornaments.
12
Chapter 2 Earlier Research
This is a study about the tools for learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the
quena and siku in Bolivia and Peru. There are only a few previous research works
in this area, but they are not directly related to this study. However, there are
many method books for amateurs and professional players on how to play the
quena and siku in Bolivia and Peru.
The music schools and the academies of folk music in Peru and Bolivia use a sys-
tem that teaches on how to play both instruments with the final goal of musical
performance and teaching.
I found two researchers who have done important and innovative work about
playing and teaching the siku and quena in Peru and Bolivia:
Americo Valencia Chacon in Peru, who wrote a master thesis called: The si-
ku: perspectives of a Pre-Incan music legacy and its applications in the devel-
opment of the Peruvian music. (Valencia, 1989)
Alejandro Vivanco in Peru, who wrote The diffusion of the folklore and for-
mation of attitudes, a doctoral dissertation in anthropology in which there is
a general information concerning the present study (Vivanco, 1976).
2.1. Americo Valencia
Valencia’s master thesis, The siku: perspectives of a Pre-Incan music legacy and its
applications on the development of the Peruvian music (Valencia, 1989), investi-
gates the natural duality of the performance technique on the siku and its different
traditions. This duality of performance is due the “ira” (male), which goes ahead or
leads and the “arca” (female), which follows. It also explains the siku structure and
how to read a numerical system or the 5-line musical staff.
13
Valencia describes the siku as two different sets of panpipes (ira and arca) that
work in complementary form in a musical dialogue. The siku, when played indivi-
dually, comes from the Moche culture, a northern Peruvian coastal culture that
developed in the Early Immediate Period. The tradition of playing siku in an or-
chestra or in choreographed groups comes from the Nazca Culture, a southern Pe-
ruvian coastal culture that also developed in the Early Immediate period. These are
Pre-Incan cultures.
Valencia´s work is a musicological investigation of the historical evolution and sig-
nificance of the traditions of the siku. It is a research work that draws on the vari-
ous musical activities and experiences of Valencia, with the purpose of developing
technical possibilities on the siku in order to get an orchestra of traditional Peru-
vian instruments based on the experimental chromatic siku.
2.2. Alejandro Vivanco
The diffusion of the folklore and the formation of attitudes (Vivanco, 1976) by Ale-
jandro Vivanco from Peru is a doctoral thesis in anthropology where he investi-
gates ontologically the music and the instruments of Peru. This doctoral disserta-
tion provides a historical and sociological perspective on folk music in Peru, and
the quena and siku are explained from a performance and pedagogical in a general
perspective.
Vivanco also wrote the well-known method book Didáctica de la quena peruana
(Vivanco, 1987) in which he explains how to learn the quena, produce notes, apply
music theory and build a pentatonic Andean repertoire. He proposed also the tonal
system for the quena and wrote several method books about the didactic way to
play the quena.
There have also been several research works about Andean music from a sociolog-
ical, musicological and anthropological perspective, made mostly by non South
American researches. A research work in music education made by a professional
performer and teacher on both instruments does not exist.
14
2.3. Other important texts
Other important books and methods are described below, following their order of
importance in relation to the present study. They are based only on history and
technical description of the quena and siku and how to play on them with an Andes
repertory.
Todo, Siku-ri: Estudios en torno al siku y al sikuri (UNNMS, 2009) by The
Mayor National University of San Marcos, a compendium of works from var-
ious Peruvian authors, which explains the role of the siku as an instrument
and of the sikuri (groups of siku players) in the pre-Hispanic world from an
archeomusicological and ethnomusicological perspective in the contempo-
rary world. It also describes the siku structure and how to use it in the Pe-
ruvian education through groups and bands.
Musica, Danza and ritual en Bolivia: Una aproximacion a la cultura de los
Andes, Tarija and Bolivian Chaco (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009)
by Ramiro Gutierrez Condori & E. Ivan Gutierrez Condor, an investigation of
dances and musical instruments in the central and southern part of Bolivia
from an ethnomusicological perspective in the 90s. The book describes the
Andean cosmic vision, musical systems focusing on learning different kind
of instruments, knowledge about how to make instruments, compose music
and use the instruments in various social contexts.
Metodo de Quena (Thevenot, 1984) by Raymond Thevenot, a swiss flute
player, who had an important influence on Peruvian quena interpretation.
This method shows how to practice and learn on this instrument through
20 chapters with classical flute exercises and attitudes adapted for the que-
na. It is a method book on how to play the quena and build repertoire.
Instrumentos musicales de Bolivia (Cavour, 1984) by Ernesto Cavour, in
which he describes all kinds of traditional instruments from Bolivia, among
them the quena and the siku, their origins, construction and the various
context in which they are used.
15
This study is a continuation of my previous work, which consisted of instrumental
and pedagogical research into playing techniques, history and aesthetics of the two
traditional flutes of the Pre-Inca period: The quena and the siku: a comparison be-
tween Bolivian and Peruvian playing techniques (De La Calle, 2009). The study ana-
lyzes five aspects of teaching and playing: position and balance, breathing, embou-
chure and tone, articulation and vibrato.
This previous research work, written in interview form, helped me to produce the
more analytical content and structure presented here, which investigates the tools
in practice, learning and teaching on the quena and the siku in Bolivia and Peru.
2.4. Conclusion
There is currently not enough and variety information concerning learning, prac-
ticing and teaching a tune on the siku and the quena in Andean traditional music
from a research perspective. It is difficult to get substantial information here in
Europe related the aim of this study. I had to visit both countries personally in or-
der to get texts from libraries, cultural associations and music academies. Among
the books that I brought from Bolivia and Peru, the most important are: The siku:
perspectives of a Pre-Incan music legacy and its applications on the development of
the Peruvian music (Valencia, 1989), by Americo Valencia, Todo Siku-ri: Estudios en
torno al siku y al sikuri (UNMSM, 2009), by UNMSM and Musica, Danza and ritual en
Bolivia (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009), by Ramiro Gutierrez Condori & E.
Ivan Gutierrez Condor. They described and explained valuable information con-
cerning learning, practicing and teaching the quena and the siku in the oral tradi-
tion in Andes music with imitation and memory as important tools and how mak-
ing music in the Andes is a social cultural phenomenon.
In my opinion the integration of the artistic and instrumental-pedagogical skills of
a professional performer and teacher, together with the research horizon of un-
derstanding, could contribute with research works with a deeper and broader new
panorama from an instrumental and pedagogical perspective. This could expand
the horizon of understanding in a fruitful way on both instruments and set an ex-
ample for other flutists. It is my expectation that the interaction with my horizon of
16
understanding and information from earlier research works, together with the
empirical data from my interviewees and interpretations presented in this study
will contribute to a broader and deeper understanding of the quena and the siku
by learning, practicing and teaching a tune in Andean tradition.
17
Chapter 3 Theoretical background
In the tradition of Andean Music, the tools applied to a tune when practicing, learn-
ing and teaching on the quena and siku are related to imitation and memory. In the
societies in the Andes, learning and teaching begins with children in the heart of
the family through the oral tradition, with observation, imitation, memory and the
experience of the daily life (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009). In this way,
the diversities and potentialities of listening and the capacity of understanding are
essential elements in the context of practicing, learning and teaching a tune, which
constitute an important structure for interpreting life. According to the contempo-
rary hermeneutic, if the person wants to understand a text, he or she must be dis-
posed first to allow the text to have a meaning for him or her (Monteagudo & Tur-
bino, 2009). We must have a receptive attitude and allow the text to say something
to us. In this sense, in order to interpret a text or any cultural reality, we must lis-
ten and understand; and in order to understand in the context of Andean tradition,
imitation and memory are necessary elements.
Therefore, listening and understanding together form a fundamental structure of
the hermeneutic experience, which plays a fundamental role on this study aiming
to investigate and interpret my empirical data on the basis of my research ques-
tion.
In this sense, we find the reflections of the German philosopher Gadamer who is
one of the most influential representatives of the hermeneutic in 20th century. He
affirms that it is possible to analyze music and arts through an existential herme-
neutic understanding and exposition just as when reading text (Gadamer, 2007).
We write to transmit ideas, thoughts and feelings, whether through words or notes
in a score; the essence of the act is the same (Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008). For in-
stance a raga, a melodic and rhythmical characteristic pattern of five or seven
18
notes from India, can be considered as idea translated in a sound each time it is
played (Schippers, 2010).
3.1. Hermeneutic foundations
The word hermeneutics comes from the Greek Herm/neutik (the art of interpreta-
tion) and herme/neua (interpret, explain, outlay), (Nationalencyklopedin). Herme-
neutics was used before the bible was written and was originally developed for
analyzing texts. However, it reached a broader development in the application of
analyzing Biblical texts and texts of law and philology (Grondin, 2003).
The term was used for the first time in the 17th century, when the theologian Jo-
hann Conrad Dannhauer began using it to replace the previously used term, Ausle-
gungslehre, which means the art of interpretation (Grondin, 2008). Dannhauer
used this term in his book from 1654, Hermeneutica sacra sive methodus exponen-
darum sacrarum litterarum, the title of which summarizes the classic understand-
ing of the discipline—sacred hermeneutic—meaning a method for interpreting
(exposing or explaining) sacred texts that are not clear (Grondin, 2008).
Noted hermeneutic philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey introduced an important devel-
opment in the field by expanding the concept of language to include “all human
activities that can be considered a sign of inner activity” (Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008,
p. 18). He sees language defined as any human expression, from baby talk to
handwriting, that consist of signs requiring interpretation in order to understand
the view of the world they represent. This understanding was further expanded by
Gadamer, who included all types of arts in his definition of language, including mu-
sic and other fine arts (Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008).
Gadamer went on to understand hermeneutics as a philosophy that reflects on the
phenomenon of interpretation, showing that the interpreter represents the whole
of the human world experience, saying, “the understanding and interpretation of
texts are not merely a concern of science, but obviously belong to human expe-
rience of the world in general,” (Gadamer, 2007, p. xx).
19
Man is a being of interpretation and exists by understanding his continued reality,
but always from a perspective that is connected to his past traditions and collective
customs, including his history, which brings in himself an understanding-of-the-
world that is open to ongoing modification. Together, these operate as man’s hori-
zon of understanding (Monteagudo, 2009).
As stated by Gadamer:
The hermeneutic understanding must be interpreted less as a subjective
action than as a movement of oneself to an occurrence of tradition,
where the past and the present are in continuous mediation. This must
be incorporated into the hermeneutic theory, which has been controlled
until now by the idea of a procedure or method (Gadamer, 2006, p. 295).
With this, Gadamer claims that understanding is not a matter of subjectivity, where
the conscious mind has everything under control through methodical reasoning;
instead, it is a movement from the present interpreter to the past tradition through
which the interpreter gains a new sense of the work being interpreted. This situa-
tion enables the tradition to configure itself again and again. The tradition speaks
through the interpreter. The tradition finds in the interpreter the occasion to move
and each interpreter gives the tradition the occasion to speak. To understand the
past is to translate the past into the language of the present, where there is a fusion
between the horizons of the past and present.
3.2. Imitation
Imitation is an action based on appreciation; a wish to embellish and to adorn
(Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008) which occurs when it takes somebody else’s expression
and transfers it to one’s own expression (Fink-Jensen, 1997); in this study it is re-
lated to a matching performance to a present model (Holgersen, 2003 b).
Imitation in many music traditions is considered as a common and central concept
in a learning process which is based on using good models; for example one of the
important methods by using good models in French flute tradition is following the
masters footsteps and learn the masters’ experience; this method is as old as the
20
human being himself and stimulates the development of music learning (Ljungar-
Chapelon, 2008).
The music education in the Andes begins since childhood, and it is based on obser-
vation and imitation where the children imitates a melody by whistling or playing
the quena or siku with its ornaments (one of the most important elements in An-
dean music), and dynamics through the reproduction of the melody from the
mother’s singing ; or also by observing the rehearsals of the siku bands; then, the
child will take part of a siku band playing together with the other members in or-
der to learn more melodies (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009).
After the child has learned a melody, he/she child will play the same melody trying
to get different melody lines based on the original one; this is the way how the
child learns to improvise naturally which is mostly learned by absorption rather
than by explanation through physiological transformation, the pupil learns from
experience to reproduce tones of his/her teacher (Suzuki, 1977).
The children in the Andes learn unlimited activities through observation, imitation
and the experience of daily life (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009):
In the fields of agriculture and shepherding, a child familiarizes himself with
his first sounds, which are the songs sung by the mother or the “wayños”
played by his brothers. The model and demonstration from adults in teaching
different behaviors and roles assumes a direct imitation and observation
among children. (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009, p. 32)
There are many musical styles in the Andes, which represent the importance of the
feelings and thoughts from many different events and experiences of a person. In
order to absorb them, the child uses observation and imitation as fundamental
tools of learning. For example, a child imitates a wayño (an important Andean mu-
sic style) by observing others playing in this style. The wayño represents the object
of the original in relation to the imitation. If he plays the wayño, the object of imita-
tion, he will play what he already knows about a wayño. For the child only the re-
production matters. He is imbued with significance and is happy because of his so-
called playing-imitation, showing the reproduction of his wayño. In this way, the
21
process of imitation constitutes a way of observation and reproduction (Ljungar-
Chapelon, 2008).
In western flute tradition, imitation has also been used to develop flute playing and
crafts as artistic expression with emotions as the object of imitation. Music ex-
presses the imprints of different kinds of emotions which are related to the artist’s
own experiences. The student seeks to imitate the object as presented by teachers,
virtuosos and recordings under the presumption that these sources are legitimate
and worthy of imitation (Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008). In this way imitation is consi-
dered as an essential principle and tool in music learning, artistic expression and
creativity.
3.3. Memory
The memory in the musical learning process is related to how the memory stores
and keeps the necessary information. Through knowing the memory strong and
weak sides, we can increase our learning and remember capacity (Sandberg,
1999). For instance, if the player trains to learn a tune orally, then the player will
be able to know what his/her memory is capable of in that area because he knows
how to do it. In this way memory skill can be acquired by anybody by a proper
training (Suzuki, 1977).
The memory is associative: we will remember other things which are related to it
and these will start other associations. An example is how the melody of a tune can
be able to evocate the childhood of the person.
Though a full discussion of cognitive theory is beyond the scope of this report, re-
searchers quite often recognize two types of memory: long term and short term.
One proponent of this view is Sandberg. Short period’s memory is limited and lasts
just a moment (Sandberg, 1999) in what we can store new information which will
be related with the past, present and future and integrated with the long-term
memory. In the musical learning context, this type of memory relates for example
with sight-reading (Ljungar-Chapelon, 2008).
22
Long period’s memory is quite permanent with unlimited capacity to store infor-
mation (Sandberg, 1999). For example, when a violin player memorizes in a few
days a difficult tune of three movements which lasts 20 minutes. In this situation, if
the habit of memorization has been trained since early years by internalizing diffi-
cult and long tunes, it will be done in a natural and easy way (Suzuki, 1981).
There are also some factors which influence to remember successfully necessary
information (Sandberg, 1999):
Organization: it makes it easier to reconstruct a memory if it has a particu-
lar structure; organizing the material, we will be able to remember it better
(p. 3). For instance to have a schedule of aspects of a specific tune such the
scale, dynamics, rhythmical patters we may practice every day during a
regular time.
Motivation, understanding better our goals as performers in learning, prac-
ticing and teaching a tune will bring a stronger inspiration so we can con-
centrate us deeper in order to improve the storing of new information. (p.
4)
External factors, such as practicing our instrument in an open ventilated
room will facilitate a better practicing on our instrument. Several of my in-
terviewees in this study will prefer to practice a tune on the quena and siku
in a sunny and warm beautiful landscape so that their memory will be in-
spired and fresher to retain the new information. (p. 4, 5)
Sensorial: for example, players, who are visually inclined, can interpret bet-
ter a tune remembering a picture or image than the players who are verbal-
ly inclined who can perform music reading a score. (p. 3)
The musical performance interprets also by evoking and reviving earlier emotions
and experiences. This occurs in tunes that were inspired by a particular situation,
where the emotions of the composer become incorporated into that piece. When
the tune is first learned, the performer will understand the emotions that inspired
the composer. The performer will then add his or her own emotions during the
23
practicing period, relating these to the composer’s while applying the performer’s
own memories to fortify those emotions, which will then be transmitted to the au-
dience. In this way, memory becomes decisive for the present performance in a
concert situation.
In Andes music, experience is an important characteristic of human life; due to
memory, experience is possible and therefore the player can reason. In this way
many ways of development are open to the player (Suzuki, 1977) playing the
memory an important role as an element of imitation:
The environments of learning are normally in the countryside and the moun-
tains, where generally the children and their mothers spend their days togeth-
er. In these environments, children naturally compose and sing, remembering
the songs that they heard from their parents or during rituals of thanks during
the carnival times. (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009, p. 31)
Here is described the natural process of creativity in a child of the Andes, memoriz-
ing melodies which were learned naturally by ear. One of the most characteristic
examples how memory is important in the process of learning, practicing and
teaching a tune in the Andes is related to one of the first musical forms that a child
learns: the mentioned “wayño”, which has a metric and a basic structure (Gutierrez,
R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009).
The musical structure demands that the child etches the rhythms, ornaments and
traditional sounds into his subconscious. When he/she learns a tune, he recreates
the sounds, ornaments and rhythm that he remembers; this can be through whis-
tling or singing. Later, the child reproduces these elements on the instrument and
gradually meets the challenge of playing the entire tune, as it has been recorded in
his memory.
Memory is related in a hermeneutic approach when the horizon of understanding
from the past has a connection and decisive influence on the interpretation of the
present; without memory, it is not possible to connect them. We cannot perform a
tune without using our previous understandings and experiences as the basis for
understanding and performing in the present; memory is the bridge between the
past and future through the present (Gadamer, 1991).
24
3.4. Learning a tune
In the Andean tradition, children learn by observing, imitating and listening to oth-
ers in an active way, using all of their experiences of manual labor, previous know-
ledge and feelings. The girls (while engages in textile activities) and the boys (en-
gaged in agriculture activities) sing the tunes that they heard from their families. In
this way they learn activities integrated with joy (Chaco, 2009). As Grillo said, “the
life of the child is not separated from his learning; life and learning are the same
thing”. (Gutierrez, R. & Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009 p. 32)
In this context, one of the characteristics of the human being is the capacity to take
or make experiences and learn from them in a future context. “The human being is
by nature always learning.” (Saljö, 13, 2001, p.13)
Having this understanding, I will now focus on learning a tune on the siku and the
quena. The siku is played using the interlocking technique, which is a dialogic way
of performance featuring two players, where the melody may only take place
through dialogue. Without a dialogue, development or growth in knowledge is im-
possible. So music in the Andes is seen as a presentation of the process of learning
and acquisition of understanding (Stobart & Howard, 2002).
On the siku, one must go to the villages and listen directly to the local players to
learn traditional music. The player will learn especially to play the ornamentation,
which it is a very important element in Andean music, and to be capable of under-
standing the rhythms of different styles and the spirit of this music. This way of
learning also applies to the quena.
This learning process, coming from the source of traditional music, gives the player
a strong musical impression by evoking what they have heard from records or
concerts in their early years.
The meeting between this evocation and the present musical impression will bring
a deeper understanding, which will lead to richer, and broader practicing and in-
terpretation of various tunes. Here we see the fusion of horizons between the past
and the present (Gronding, 2008). This fusion is made so well that it is difficult to
distinguish between the past and the present.
25
The teacher teaches the pupil personally about such basic techniques as posture,
embouchure, breathing, articulation and vibrato. The teacher also suggests listen-
ing to records in order to understand these basic techniques and how to interpret
the music. In both situations, the teacher may or may not use written scores.
Children were mostly self-taught, reproducing melodies played by the quena play-
er and then memorized.
Anthropologist A. Langevin (2009) summarizes this process of learning in a child,
in which imitation and memory play an essential role, in fours steps (Gutierrez, R.
& Gutierrez, E. Ivan, 2009):
1. The child listens and assimilates the repertoire of the communi-
ty.
2. The child sings or whistles remembered melodies while they
walk.
3. The child, alone, learns to reproduce the memorized melodies on
a complete siku.
4. When the child becomes older and is integrated into a communi-
ty, he begins to incorporate the musical play of the orchestra.
This process of learning also applies to a child who lives in the city.
We should add that during the first three steps, the child has a playful attitude. He
follows other children in a natural way, walking, running in the fields, swimming in
the rivers, but still singing or whistling these melodies. The fourth step is per-
formed with a festive attitude, like being at a party; even when they are practicing
they often drink some beverages that help to keep this spirit.
Recorded music is extremely helpful as tool for learning. It provides a reference
and also enables pupils to play along with the record. Because of the continuous
repetition when playing along with a record, the pupil automatically understands
and catches the most minimal details of the performance from both a technical and
artistic-expression perspective (we assume that a teacher of the instrument per-
26
forms on the record). In this way, the tune will be performed as it is, with all of the
elements of a beautiful esthetic model of performance from which to work.
3.5. Practicing a tune
The technical aspect requires focusing on the quality in practice a tune. The pupil
receives the music as a score and, together with teacher, plays it through, focusing
mainly on the difficult parts. Players who do not read music practice along with
records or together with a music group for instance a siku band.
The number of daily regular hours spent practicing is essential in order to keep
fruitful results on practicing a tune. Depending on the importance of the quality of
concentration on each player during his/her practicing, it will be the specific
amount of hours for each session. Good training in practicing a tune is based on to
repeat and repeat until the tune becomes a part of us so it will not be technique but
a true expression of the inner self (Suzuki, 1981).
Andes music is also practiced based on knowledge of how a traditional group de-
velops. There are several groups of sikus of which we will present an example. The
structure of a siku group, which is called a sikuri, consists of nine groups, in which
each group has several kinds of sikus. Because of the different size of each siku, the
embouchure and breathing technique varies for each of them. The nine groups
emit melodic parallel lines, separated by octaves, fifths or thirds, depending of the
situation (Valencia, 1989).
Other characteristics of how a traditional group develops are also working togeth-
er in an oral way, instilling values like identity through making their own instru-
ments together so the player will be in contact with the bamboo’s essence, being
satisfied with his own sound. Singing the melodies is also an important characte-
ristic in order to assimilate them better for their daily practicing. In this way the
player becomes influenced by the group identity and appraisal (Cavour, 1994).
Players, who are also dealing with Western arrangements of music in Peruvian and
Bolivian music, practice with strong ambition the different playing techniques like
breathing, embouchure and tone and articulation on the instrument (Vivanco,
27
1987). This is needed to learn the structure of the siku and quena, the position of
the notes, articulation, and the quantity of the air for each note, where embouchure
plays a decisive role for playing different dynamics. “Ponce called this embouchure
process ‘the academic style,’ since one can perform dynamics such as those known
in Western classical music. He uses the academic technique and also for traditional
music” (De La Calle, 2009, p. 21). In this way the ambition in practicing a tune suc-
cessfully is based on the mentioned technical aspect foundation on both instru-
ments.
The traditional Andes way of practicing a tune is also based on going and observ-
ing how the teacher plays and dances in the villages playing daily the teacher to-
gether with the student; so his/her practicing on a tune will be absorbed by the
feeling of the particular style played by the master (Cavour, 1994). The way in
which a master instructs his pupils in how to practice a tune is by organizing a
schedule with technical exercises and also creating a comfortable environment.
The teacher is sensitive to his students’ emotions so he can best understand their
capacities, helping them to be relaxed and satisfied while being conscious of what
they really are doing (Vivanco, 1987).
In the artistic aspect concerning practicing a tune is explained through the oral
legacy in the Andes music by recognizing that human beings are part of nature and
they are governed under the norms of nature:
There is an interaction with other forms of life because human beings are part
of nature. This generates a complementary relationship, maintaining a balance
and a harmony that will not break the norms of nature”. (Gutierrez Condori, R.
& Gutierrez Condori, E. Ivan, 2009, p. 43).
In the daily life in the Andes, the balance of the relations between us, our sur-
roundings and other living entities is given by following different human values
such as honesty, respect for others, that the individual must integrate daily in or-
der to have a development of good life and to follow the norms of nature. In this
way we can learn to deal with nature. The personality of a musician will arise with
a natural “good energy” concerning learning, practicing a tune and the perfor-
mance situation (Thevenot, 1984).
28
This process of preparation in practicing a tune on the quena and siku, with its in-
teraction between the technical and artistic dimension, will bring the basic forma-
tion of a musician in the Andean context tradition.
3.6. Teaching a tune
Our existence is based on that we, as human beings have always learned and
shared knowledge with each other. The transmission of knowledge requires that
we transfer information and skills from those who can (teachers or adults) to those
who cannot (pupils or children) (Saljö, 2001).
The processes of cultural transmission in the Andes is based on the teacher who
tries to alter the structure of the habit in a person and the concept of teacher-
father where also mothers, aunts, uncles, old brothers and other members of the
family have the teacher’s role (Gutierrez Condori, Ramiro & Gutierrez Condori, E.
Ivan. 2009). Learning is its own reward for these teachers. They learn gladly and
offer this knowledge to others gladly realizing that the very act of teaching is re-
warding (Peters & Millers, 1982).
In this way in the Andean way of teaching, knowledge is transferred through the
oral tradition from an older generation to a younger generation, from parents to
nuclear family, to an extended family and to the community. They transfer differ-
ent norms and principles of the Andes culture, which will help the person to devel-
op practical abilities, like music, and establish in them the basis of that culture (Gu-
tierrez Condori, R. & Gutierrez Condori, E. Ivan, 2009).
The quena and siku are taught to pupils in music academies, music schools, ele-
mentary and junior high schools and in private lessons as well. Topics range from
basic knowledge of the instrument and its techniques to various traditional styles,
with or without academic arrangements (Vivanco, 1987). In teaching, technical
words from the quechua or aymara languages (dialects from the Andes) are used
as tools to communicate musical concepts. For example: zamponada (start to play),
alarga (more resistant) and IRA, IRA, IRA (to play sixteenth notes).
29
There is a fixed system for teaching technical exercises, which are still being devel-
oped and systematized (Vivanco, 1987). The technical exercises currently help to
develop: breath control, long notes, scales, fingering, articulation, repertoire, tradi-
tional techniques and phrasing. For example, one type of articulation on the quena
is produced by slapping the fingertips onto the holes. (Pariona, 2006)
Repertoire is being built up through the transcription of traditional tunes. The
teaching of traditional music, whether by ear or by transcription, also helps to de-
velop creativity (Thevenot, 1984); for example improvisation. The teacher empha-
sizes to learn a tune first singing the melody and then playing phrase by phrase
especially in the difficult parts of the tune (Cavour, 1994).
The holistic approach to teach a tune in a repertory (not exercises or even shorter
versions of the original tune) is presented to the pupils as a whole by listening oth-
er sources as life concerts and recordings of professional performers which chal-
lenges the student to understand and master the piece; the advantage is to contri-
bute with analytical skills in the learner (Schippers, 2010).
The teacher will arrange ensembles so he or she can play together with the stu-
dents in order to give them knowledge and confidence (Cavour, 1994). The teacher
ensures that the students will hear the optimal sound quality, performed as a mod-
el by the teacher. The teacher will also give the freedom to listen other masters, so
the pupils can choose the approach that is most suitable for them (Vivanco, 1987).
3.7. Conclusion
In this theoretical chapter, I have described various concepts such as imitation and
memory, which are fundamental tools for learning, practicing and teaching a tune
in the oral tradition, which is based on the Andean culture. This tradition encou-
rages simple elements such as observation, listening, memorization and imitation
of songs sung by parents. The essences of much of these also exist in the Western
tradition. The parents in the Andean tradition teach by their daily example by re-
cognizing that human beings are part of nature and they are governed under the
norms of nature which contributes to the personality of the artist for a better ex-
pression on his or her works.
30
In the background of this description there is a culture characterized by a group of
lifestyles and customs, in this case the Andean society, in which their people partic-
ipate in formal, regular and daily events, getting different experiences. From these
experiences, the pupils and teachers creates different works of art, which can also
include painting and sculpture. Through these daily experiences, they experience
emotions from which to make a work of art and transmit these experiences to oth-
ers. Unless one has deep experience in the day-to-day life of given culture, it is dif-
ficult to get a complete understanding of that culture.
31
Chapter 4 Methodology
In this chapter, I illustrate my choice of method of research, describe the plan and
realization of the study and present the interviewees and the analysis process of
the data. This whole is placed in relation to my research question. My research
question is a comparison of the tools in learning, practicing and teaching a tune
between Bolivia and Peru based on a qualitative interview investigation and ob-
servation.
The aim of the qualitative research interview is to understand the themes of each
subject’s daily experience through his or her own perspective (Kvale, 1996). The
qualitative research interview is based on desire to get a clear and deep picture,
full of nuances, of my description and analysis of artistic and pedagogical expres-
sions of the quena’s and siku’s technical skills.
An interview is literally an inter view, an interchange of views between two persons
conversing about a theme of mutual interest (Kvale, 1996). The researcher inte-
racts with the information from the interviewees such as their experiences, hopes
and world view which is given through conversation (Phillips, 2008). Data for this
study was gathered through conversations with representative performers and
teachers in Bolivia and Peru, focusing on certain themes and questions.
In the interviews, I act using the dual metaphors of interviewer as miner and as
traveler (Kvale, 1996).
When acting as a miner, the researcher seeks essential meanings in my data while
analyzing it. The interviews are then transcribed and analyzed; when the intervie-
wees speak about topics related to this study, these are then cut out and collected
for analysis. “The interviewer digs nuggets of data or meanings out of subjects’
pure experiences, unpolluted by any leading questions.” (Kvale, 1996, p. 3)
32
When acting as a traveler, I sought information in Peru and Bolivia, asking ques-
tions in relaxed interviews so that the local interviewees in this study could relate
their experiences through their own stories leading to a new knowledge. “The in-
terviewer-traveler wanders through the landscape and enters into conversations
with the people encountered” (Kvale, 1996, p. 4). In this way the identification and
development of valuable meanings of their stories will be augmented by the trav-
eler’s interpretation into new validated tales. They also introduce me to various
local players, enabling me to better understand their opinions about traditional
music, its aesthetics and history.
4.1. The selection of the interviewees
The results presented here are based on data collected during of more than three
years, during which many siku teachers throughout Peru and Bolivia were inter-
viewed (De La Calle, 2009). In Peru, I found a record on where I especially liked the
quality of the siku sound and noticed that it came from La Paz, Bolivia. Following
up on this, I traveled to Bolivia, asking at various siku shops where the most out-
standing performers could be found. After speaking with several of these teachers,
I met Carlos Ponce. He taught me the Siku in La Paz for three years within the per-
formance program at the Malmö Academy of Music between 2004 and 2006. We
developed a warm relationship not only as a student and teacher but also as
friends.
I have known Idel Mamani since we were teenagers in Lima. He played in a band,
so sometimes we were invited to the same events to play in different turns, his
band and mine. He later became the siku teacher at the Academy of Folk Music in
Lima, so for my previous publication (De La Calle, 2009) he kindly helped to be one
of the interviewees.
David Pariona and Jaime Arias were selected as interviewees because I had already
worked with them while collecting data for a previous project (De La Calle & Ljun-
gar-Chapelon, 2005; De La Calle, 2009). Both of them are teachers of quena at the
same academy as Idel.
33
My last publication compared quena and siku playing techniques between Peru
and Bolivia. Most of the interviewees required for each area were already a part of
this study, but an interviewee who could represent Bolivia as a teacher of quena
was also needed. Carlos Ponce introduced me to Rolando Encinas, a Bolivian quena
teacher that he especially admired. I met him twice, following up two years later to
reconfirm his answers from the interview guide. For our first meetings, his ap-
proach towards me was formal because we had not met before, but during the
second meeting he was very kind and friendly, like Ponce.
All of them were very generous and well motivated for a deep interview about An-
dean tradition.
The interviewees were chosen to represent internationally known teachers, virtu-
osos and bandleaders. The experience of leading and playing in a band from the
Andean tradition provides an invaluable contribution to building artistic skills; the
various musical styles and the interaction between the members represents a
model of what a professional flute player must learn.
The choice of interviewees includes the Andean flute players and teachers men-
tioned but did not include teachers of other flute traditions. The Andean communi-
ty encompasses Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and those parts of Chile and Argentina that
include the Andes Mountains. It is important for an Andean flute player to be born
and educated within the Andean tradition in order to become an outstanding per-
former and a well-prepared teacher. There have been only a few cases where a
flute player coming from another culture has been successfully educated within
the Andean tradition with good results.
Here follows a short biography of each interviewee.
4.1.1. Idel Mamani
Mamani is from Puno, Peru. When he was a child, he started to play pinkillo (an
Andean recorder) and began on the siku at the age of twelve. He is self-taught.
Mamani has been teaching the siku at the Academy of Folk Music in Lima for
the last fifteen years. He is working for the revival of the siku in Peru. As a
34
teacher he is currently involved in a project to create the first Peruvian orches-
tra consisting of traditional instruments.
4.1.2. Carlos Ponce
Ponce was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He has been playing the siku since he was
eleven. He is a pioneer in Bolivia as a player of jazz music on the siku. He is an
autodidactic. As a teacher himself, he is leading the first Andean and Latin or-
chestra in Bolivia with children between nine and thirteen. As a musician he
has been traveling extensively around the world.
4.1.3. Rolando Encinas
Encinas was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He is a self-taught player, beginning at the
age of nine. His studies are inspired by all the regions of the Bolivian Andes and
arrangements of Bolivian music from the 20th and 21st century. He studied the
common transverse flute at the conservatory of Bolivia in the 1960’s, 70’s and
90’s, also taking private lessons in harmony.
4.1.4. Jaime Arias
Arias is from Cusco, Peru. He is currently a quena teacher at the Academy of
Folk Music in Cusco and uses the common transverse flute as a second instru-
ment for playing classical Western flute music. He is self-taught and started
with the quena when he was 14. As a musician he has made many recordings
with many arrangements of traditional music and his own compositions.
4.1.5. David Pariona
Pariona was born in Lima, Peru. He is currently working as a quena teacher at
The Academy of Folk Music in Lima. At the age of five he started playing the re-
corder, the piano and the guitar in the children’s program at The Music Con-
servatory of Lima. Pariona was attracted to the quena because of its sound and
rich history. He is not self-taught, and has been studying this instrument at this
academy in Lima since he was 17. He is a composer who also performs his
songs.
35
4.2. The realization of the interviews
The interviews were made between 2006 and 2007 in the following cities:
Ponce: at the National Institute of Culture in La Paz, Bolivia
Encinas: at home in La Paz, Bolivia
Mamani: at home in Puno, Peru
Arias: at home in Cuzco, Peru
Pariona: at the Academy Folk of Music in Lima, Peru
The interviews were made in Spanish. I used a video camera and had a photo-
grapher as an assistant.
I used a tripod to hold the video camera stable, focusing on the subjects’ chest and
face. The camera was kept in the same place during the whole interview so that the
interviewees were not overly disturbed by its presence and also to make it easier
for me to concentrate while analyzing and processing the data. Each of my inter-
viewees brought their instruments and performed traditional Andean pieces. I
base my results on these video observations and interviews. The transcription was
made at home in Copenhagen using the same video camera connected to a TV. The
same interview guide was used for all the interviews.
Using this approach, I was able to guide the conversation with questions prepared
previously. These questions not only addressed the interviewees’ work as perfor-
mers, but also as teachers focusing on how they work in learning, practicing and
teaching a tune. At the same time, the flexibility of the interview brought new in-
sights that were not considered before.
I concentrated on the following topics to develop my questions. This structure
made it easier for me to organize the interview guide:
How to learn a tune
How to practice a tune
How to teach a tune
36
Each of these topics includes further questions, which will guide the course of the
interview. I designed my interview guide so it could contribute thematically to
knowledge production and dynamically to a good interview interaction (Kvale,
1996).
A good interaction is given by establishing a balance between the interviewer, who
knows what he or she is seeking, and the emotional human interaction in the con-
versation. This human interaction is established not only through words, but also
by fostering a natural flow for the conversation, being aware of the expressions,
gestures and the tone of voice (Kvale, 1996). My experience of performing and
teaching on these instruments has given me the ability to manage the mentioned
thematic and dynamic aspects. This experience contributed to the depth of mean-
ing captured during the interviews, providing a deeper and broader knowledge
than expected.
In some cases, interviewees’ answers were ambiguous or incomplete. Because of
the importance of maintaining the personal atmosphere mentioned above, I had to
avoid following up by telephone and instead traveled again to Peru and Bolivia to
get clear and complete answers. Because of the history of rivalry between Bolivia
and Peru, and my own background as Peruvian, I had to be especially careful when
interviewing my Bolivian subjects.
4.3. Interpreting the data
I chose a hermeneutic approach to interpret my data based on my research inter-
view which “is a conversation between human beings with the oral discourse
transformed into texts to be interpreted” (Kvale, 1996, p. 46). In this situation it
provides a contextual awareness and perspective by seeking to understand not
only what they are saying but also the actions and expressions of the interviewees.
Hermeneutic is the art of understanding the opinion of others or the art of conver-
sation, which consists of reducing the impact of preconceived opinion, instead
searching for what the interviewees consider to be good and true (Monteagudo,
2009). The decisive step is to accept in ourselves to let us say something in order
to be able to enter in a dialogue movement of interpretation where we will have an
37
access to a new text. In this way our horizon of understanding and self knowledge
becomes broader.
The hermeneutic process consists of moving from interpreting isolated sections of
a text to considering the entire work and then back again.
[T]he hermeneutic rule is that one has to understand the whole from the indi-
vidual and the individual from the whole. It proceeds…from the art of speaking
to the art of understanding. … In both cases, we are in a circular relation-
ship…it becomes an explicit understanding when the parts which are defined
from the whole, at the same time are define as that whole. (Gadamer, 2006, p.
63. Trans. De La Calle)
The whole is given through the interview guide for the interviewees, who consti-
tute the foundation of the investigation. This foundation assumes that the inter-
viewees are experts in the areas about which they will be questioned and that they
are furthermore willing to participate. This creates a harmony between the whole
(the foundation) and the individual events that occur during the investigation. To
interpret statements given during the interviews (i.e., the reasons why he or she
does things in a given way) the researcher must consider the results produced and
choose to analyze the obtained facts based on my pre-understanding.
My pre-understanding as a performer on the quena and siku, friend, student and
later on colleague of my interviewees, makes a broader opening for myself; it
means my pre-understanding makes it possible to see in my interviewees’ own
experiences similarities of what I have also been through; so many statements
which are difficult to interpret would have been impossible to understand if I did
not have the required pre-understanding helping me for instance to understand in
a subjective way many of the subtle differences of how to practice a tune in differ-
ent kind of siku. For example there are different sizes of siku with different ways of
embouchure, resonance and dynamics which depends on the style and the places
in Peru and Bolivia they come from (De La Calle, 2009).
On the other hand, there is a risk that a pre-understanding could become a preju-
dice, closing one’s mind to new observations and experiences from other sources.
This is what Ödman calls “a narrow minded subjectivism” (Ödman, 1995, P. 59).
38
4.4. Conclusion
In this methodological chapter, I use a qualitative research interview presenting a
description of the selection of the interviewees, the realization of the interviews
and the interpretation of the data which have contributed to the findings of this
study. The combination of the knowledge of the data and my own horizon of un-
derstanding has developed in a reasoning based on a hermeneutic approach. In
this way the qualitative research interview has been an appropriate method be-
cause the researcher could capture the experiences and lived meanings of my in-
terviewees by communicating to others these experiences from their point of view
and language.
My pre-understanding and questions in the interview guide were used with two
different metaphors, as a miner and as a traveler, which are different ways of
knowledge formation of the research question. Then, combining the knowledge of
the findings of this study with my horizon of understanding, it creates a new level
of pre-understanding knowledge and a horizon of understanding.
39
Chapter 5 The study
This chapter provides a presentation of my data and findings from the interviews
concerning learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the siku and the quena.
These are compared between Bolivia and Peru within the Andean music tradition.
The explanations and results presented here are divided in two parts: the siku and
the quena. For each of these, I focus on the attitudes for learning a tune, practicing
a tune and teaching a tune in each country. I translated the interviewee quotations
from Spanish to English.
5.1. Short flute history
The quena and the siku are two archetypal wind instruments from the Andes
Mountains of South America. Each has a long tradition beginning in the Pre-Incan
period.
5.1.1. History of the quena
The quena was one of the most important instruments of the Pre-Incan period,
together with the South American pan pipes (siku). It is a stopped, end-blown
flute with a round or right-angled carved notch (Baumman, 2/1982);
The name “quena” is taken from the Aimara language and first appears in
Western literature in the vocabulary of the priest Ludovico Bertonio (1612),
who defined it as a flute of bamboo from the Andes. The instrument is also
mentioned by the jesuit missionary Bernabé Cobo in 1653, who identified as
“Quenaquena” ( Vivanco, 1987).
Quena quena means hole (Guamán Poma de Ayala, 1612/2007). This instru-
ment has been found in many Pre-Incan cultures, including:
Caral (2500 – 1600 BC)
40
Paracas (700 BC – 0 AD)
Moche (100 BC – 700 AD)
Nazca (100 – 600 AD).
Huari (550 – 1000 AD)
Quenas were fashioned from any of a variety of materials, including: bone, soft
stone, clay, bamboo, gold, silver or bronze. It could also be made from an alloy
of gold, silver and copper, which is called champi in the Quechua language. In
modern times, they may also be made also from wood, aluminum, plastic or
glass. The instrument is usually 30 to 40 cm long, having 6 holes on the front
side and one on the back side. It has a bevel in a form of "u" or "v" on the
mouthpiece of the flute. Originally the quena was pentatonic, but it is more of-
ten diatonic today (Pariona, 2006).
Figure 1: The quena.
The quena unifies the qualities of the human spirit to help cultivate self-
expression. As Pariona states: “The various materials mentioned for the quena
constitute the basic tools that enable the player to express himself, but if the
player does not have a cultivated spirit, the result will be relatively poor” (Pa-
riona, 2006, p. 28). Other researchers, such as Alwirtu Maki, describe the con-
cept of the quena as “a bridge between the human and the divine,” (Pariona,
2006).
41
5.1.2. History of the Siku
The South America panpipe in the Altiplano is called siku in the native Aymara
language (Baumann, 2/1989). Siku comes from the Ayamara word sikhum
which means “to ask” (UNMSM, 2009). It is also known by the word zampona, a
Spanish generic term (Valencia, 1989). Its vestiges are found mainly in Pre-
Incan cultures, including Chavin Chavín (1000 – 200 BC) and Tiahuanaco (100
BC – 1200 AD) (UNMSN, 2007).
It has a trapezoidal shape and is constructed using the same materials as the
quena, plus the wing bones of the Condor. In modern times, it is constructed
from a type of cane that grows at the edge of the jungle (Valencia, 1989). It
usually has two rows of tubes, fastened to one or two thin strips of cane that
bind them together. The first row is called ira which means “the one who
guides” and the second row is called arca, the “one who follows “. The principal
row is formed by tubes that are open at the top. Each tube has a different length
and diameter and they are placed from large to small in a plane (Valencia,
1985). The siku was originally tuned to a pentatonic scale, but is now usually
tuned to pitches that approximate a diatonic scale.
Figure 2: The Siku, separated by two rows of
tubes. The row placed on the left side is the ar-
ka, and the row placed on the right side is the
ira.
42
The siku is played using a so-called “interlocking” technique. Two players par-
ticipate on this dialogic way of playing; where alternate notes of the scale are
divided between paired (half) instruments (Stobart & Hobart 2002). This is es-
pecially the situation when the largest sikus requires breathing between the
notes (Baumann, 1996).
The interlocking technique on this instrument reflects that without a dialogue
there is not development of knowledge; in this way music in that time was pre-
sented as process of learning and acquisition of understanding in a presenta-
tion of transformation in the Andean society (Storbart & Hobart, 2002).
5.2. The Siku
5.2.1. Learning a tune by listening to the teacher and recordings
Mamani
Mamani used many different recordings of traditional music when learning a
tune: “The best way is to have an audio recording of the tune the student is
learning and to relate this to what I am teaching.” The original recording illu-
strates the essence of the style and its techniques so the student can compare
the tune in the recording with what they are playing.
In the oral tradition, pupils learn new tunes by listening to teachers playing in
their villages. “Normally we conduct research by traveling to these places and
interviewing the teachers or playing together with their groups. This is a way of
learning,” says Mamani. Talking and playing together is the standard process
for learning a traditional tune in the Andes.
Ponce
Ponce uses recordings not only as a help to learn the technical aspects of a tune,
but also to develop appreciation of experienced players, cultivating the artistic
aspect. Listening to the teachers also helps when learning a tune, developing
the technical and the historical aspects of the instrument. (See track 2 of the
DVD)
43
5.2.2. Practicing a tune—contents and methods
Mamani
Mamani’s approach to practicing is different from Ponce’s. As a student, Mama-
ni practiced irregularly because he asserts that the siku player coexists with the
instrument. He sometimes practices in the fields and sometimes in the schools,
and sometimes with an orchestra of sikus, depending on their schedules. This is
the traditional Andean approach. Though it is not like the Western approach, it
is also complemented with sight-reading exercises.
Mamani received the material as scores, which were transcribed from the
records, and together with the teacher focused mainly on the difficult parts:
So first is the reading of the music score, then the reading with the instrument
and finally the teacher provides assistance, focusing on the most difficult
parts. For example, here you must breathe like this, with more strength, be-
cause this specific tune needs it.
Often, scores of traditional Andean music do not show how the tune should
sound with regard to the intensity of the dynamics and especially the interpre-
tation of ornaments from particular styles; so the teacher comes to the student
and helps him to better understand the score. According to Mamani, the
process works as follows: “They start with only the solfege syllables, and then
progressively add rhythm, melody, ornaments and dynamics.” Once learned, it
is played in collectively in a “sikuri”.
As a teacher, he also practices irregularly, depending on his teaching and family
responsibilities. He does it in the same way as a student, but without the help of
an experienced player because he already knows how to play the different
styles.
Ponce
As a student, Ponce practiced between four and six hours a day. He mentioned
that he had to practice this amount of hours because he was pressed to fulfill
music contracts, performing daily. He was learning, first the structure of the in-
strument, the position of the notes and the quantity of air needed for each of
44
them. He started with a repertoire of traditional Bolivian Andean music. Ponce
does not know music theory, nor can he read scores. Therefore he learned by
ear, imitating the melodies from other players and remembering the melodies
he was most interested in. He says that the quality of practicing is more impor-
tant than the quantity of hours.
As a teacher, he practices between two and three hours per day. He practices
fewer hours as a teacher because of his continuous performances and family
responsibilities. He practices jazz music and focuses more on how he emanates
a positive energy through the learned techniques. He explains that in order to
get this energy, one has to practice the five following elements:
Awareness or consciousness, sensibility, loyalty, honesty and respect for oth-
ers are the five elements that I practice daily in order to be a good person. We
artists are the center of society. We have a duty to bring this energy to people.
What we think as artists, we radiate to others.
Ponce refers to the artist as the center of society because the artist has the duty
to show an exemplary daily behavior which comes from these daily elements
incorporated in our life. In this way, the artist contributes to people emanating
a “good energy,” which will inspire others to keep a balance and harmony with
nature. In other words, the artist will be the fountain of inspiration for others,
showing the importance of these daily elements in a therapy for the society:
“We act in this spiritual way because if the artist should have another profes-
sion it would be as a doctor because the artist fortifies the spirit; he creates the
food for the spirit for the members in a society.” He affirms that while in the
Andes context, the artist concentrates on these elements to have a profound
performance on the instrument, while in the Western world, concentration is
on the technical part on the instrument.
He emphasizes that one has to practice the five elements at all times, so at any
moment when the artist is requested to play, he/she will be able to emanate
this energy through expressing good emotions in the melodies and uniting one-
self with the siku and to be fully present in the moment. In order to realize the
mentioned therapy, it is important to realize the coexistence of three compo-
45
nents: the artist, the instrument and to cultivate awareness of these types of
daily elements incorporated in our life. This is the triangle that Ponce empha-
sizes (De La Calle, 2009).
5.2.3. Teaching pupils how to practice
Mamani
Mamani, who mainly plays traditional Andean music, teaches his students
about how to practice through knowing how a traditional group develops its
characteristics which is learning via the oral transmission trough working to-
gether. This is part of the traditionalism. In order to practice a tune, they instill
values like to identify deeply with the tune. On this process in order to get this
feeling, Mamani teaches the student how to make their own instrument by
going to the jungle and picking the bamboos. After this, while learning to make
their instruments the students sing melodies together in order to assimilate
them better for their daily practicing. In this way the student get a big impact of
identity and appraisal.
Mamani works in a more collective way because the siku is traditionally played
in groups of at least two people. Normally, however, groups consist of 4 siku
players or more, and feature several voices in each tune. Because of the limited
musical structure of traditional Andean music and the collectivism mentioned
above, Mamani’s approach makes it difficult to go into the details of his tech-
niques.
Ponce
Ponce teaches his pupils about how strong ambitions enable advancement in
both the technical and the spiritual aspects of playing. As he explained: “The
formation of the artist is not only theoretical and technical, but also spiritual.
This is the parameter.” This is the point of departure for an artist, who is
formed by technical playing, music theory and the incorporation in our life of
the five types of daily elements. Here, Ponce again emphasizes the importance
of the mentioned triangle, which will bring inspiration for other young stu-
dents.
46
5.2.4. Teaching a tune—the framework: technical exercises and words
Mamani
Mamani teaches students who have completed secondary school, around 20
years old, concentrating mostly on traditional Andean music. He explained how
he deals with the technical exercises while teaching:
Because these instruments have just recently been incorporated in our school
curriculum, they are still in the process of systemization. We are building up
the transcription of scores and tunes, and accordingly, we are developing the
technical part with the exercises.
Mamani is the principal teacher of the siku at the Academy of Folk Music, “Jose
Maria Arguedas” in Lima. The school has existed for 60 years but the siku per-
formance and teaching department has only existed for 10 years. When I vi-
sited Mamani in 2007, he explained that they still had just one to three students
per year. The development of the technical parts in the process of systematiza-
tion on the siku has been slow, thus limiting Peruvians’ interest in studying this
instrument.
Sheet music for this instrument uses either standard notation, such as is used
in Western music, or a system of numbers that represents the notes of the “ira”
and “arca”. Students at the Academy are taught in both methods.
He uses special concepts, words to aid his teaching; among the most-used
words are: “Zamponada” (blow strong), “alarga” (to play longer a specific short
rhythmic and melodic pattern) and ira, ira, ira, ira, ira (to play sixteenth notes).
Ponce
Ponce teaches pupils and students between 10 to 58 years old. He teaches eve-
rything from basic knowledge, such as the origin of the instrument, up to the
more advanced music, like jazz.
He emphasizes an essential important tool in his teaching: “I teach my students
to be creative right form the start because this quality is very important to de-
velop in them; I guide them in how to awaken this quality.”
47
Ponce is the only teacher of jazz music on the siku in Bolivia. Therefore he em-
phasizes creativity and instantaneous composition—improvisation—an essen-
tial characteristic of this style. What I noticed while he was teaching is that he
makes them practice many different scales using the three-row siku (in which
the player can play in any tonality) (See track 4 of the DVD). He asks his stu-
dents to imitate melodies from records from the masters to ensure that they
have a foundation from which to improvise. He encourages them to develop
their freedom in order to make their own melodies during improvisation.
Ponce uses technical exercises for breathing and embouchure and scales based
on jazz music, but he focuses more on the other important tools of intuition and
imitation:
When I improvise on the siku, I use my intuition, which it is a normal ability in
a person. It can be used, for example, when a thing falls unexpectedly, so that
one can catch it immediately. It is a kind of prevention in advance of any situa-
tion. This tool is related to imitation, which it is perceived with the ears. You
imitate and relate with the expressions of the other members of the band, with
intuition entering into a dialogue.
When Ponce refers to intuition as “prevention in advance,” he is referring to an
improvisational situation where the player perceives an idea through the me-
lodic and rhythmic patterns occurring before it becomes his or her turn to im-
provise. This must be done without logical reasoning because there is no time
to enter the process of thinking when one is improvising. In this way he will re-
produce through imitation what he already has perceived through intuition.
During this action, the improviser will relate with the members of the band us-
ing imitation and memory to make a musical dialogue. The improviser uses var-
iations of the same melodic and rhythmic patters that are being played, using
different feelings in the improvisation itself.
When teaching, Ponce uses words from the Western tradition, such as “stacca-
to”. He also uses some of his own expressions, such as “don’t let the siku whis-
tle,” referring to when the sound is bad. Mamani also refers to this whistling
48
sound on the siku, describing it as the sound of a person who is tearing a sheet
or as they said in Quechua, “huajachi” (make it cry!) (De La Calle, 2009).
5.2.5. Using the teacher’s model of playing and playing together with the students
Mamani
Mamani uses his own playing as a model for his students, but he also gives his
students the freedom to listen to other teachers, so they can choose the ap-
proach that is most suitable for them: “If the student finds a particular ap-
proach too difficult, then he or she can work in another way. There is not
strictness.”
Normally, traditional Andean music is taught strictly and students are asked to
imitate the teacher exactly due to a conservative and traditionalist mentality.
However, I have seen Mamani performing many types of music on the siku
(such as classical music including Bach and Mozart) and he applies many more
techniques than would normally be expected from a teacher of traditional An-
dean music. In this way he is flexible in his teaching.
Mamani plays together with his students during the teaching sessions, though
it is sometimes difficult because he has only one to two students per year. He
plays together with them as a conversation, in a musical dialogue.
Ponce
Ponce uses also his own playing as a model of teaching for his pupils. He em-
phasizes that all he has learned in his life can now be transferred to his stu-
dents in a shorter and in a more systematized way because of his long expe-
rience. In the past, the siku was played only in one diatonic scale and there was
not an organized system of teaching. Because of this, he has developed a wide
technical capacity on the siku and its systematic way of learning as an impor-
tant role in his teaching.
During a teaching session, Ponce plays together with his pupils. He gives the
following reason for this:
49
The teacher always has to play with his pupils to provide them with a model
they can emulate. It will be traumatic if the pupils play alone without knowing
the real sound. I say to them: close your eyes and listen the sound.
Ponce explained that there is a lack of knowledge related to producing the cor-
rect timbre of the siku. The siku has a special resonance. Usually, the European
pan flute is played to produce a more “round” timbre than what is considered
ideal for the siku. “The material of the siku is very thin and produces the unique
resonance … with a bad embouchure, the sound will squeal or turn into a round
timbre” (De La Calle, 2009, p. 21).
During the first half-year of learning to produce the correct timbre on this in-
strument, it is very important to play together with the teacher to compare the
student’s sound with the teacher’s. There is a tendency to forget the appropri-
ate embouchure in order to get the correct timbre. Therefore Ponce emphasiz-
es this parameter in his teaching, especially the imitation of the teacher’s
sound.
50
Summary of findings for the siku
The table below summarizes my findings related to the siku, and is inspired by
Ljungar-Chapelon (2008).
Siku
Bolivia Peru
Learning a tune
Listening to records and the teachers.
- Using recordings, ap-preciating the teacher’s technique and artistic aspect.
-Teachers: techniques, learning the history of the instrument.
- Records: for the students as an original sample for imita-tion.
- Teachers: playing together in the villages.
Practicing a tune
Content and me-thods, as student
- Bolivian traditional An-dean music, four-six hours a day.
- Autodidact, read neither music nor music theory.
- Traditional Andean music.
- Read the score without the instrument, then with it and after correction with the teach-er; focusing on the difficult parts; irregular schedule.
Content and me-thods, as teacher
- Jazz music, two-three hours.
- Connection between the technical aspect and the five types of daily ele-ments.
- Same style. Rehearsals with the students and the concerts.
- Irregular schedule.
Informing the stu-dent
- Strong ambition and the cultivation of the daily five elements.
- How a traditional group de-velops and its characteristics.
Teaching a tune
The framework: technical exercis-es and words
- Students 10-58 years old. From origins of the instrument to jazz. To be creative.
- Technical exercises: breathing, embouchure, scales based on jazz music. Intuition and imita-tion.
- Help of concepts: words, e.g., “staccato” and “don’t make the Siku whistle”.
- Students 20 years
- Traditional Andean music.
- Technical exercises: in a process of systematization.
- Use basic notations as Western music or with num-bers.
- Help of concepts: words e.g., zampoñada, (blow strong), “alarga” (to play longer a spe-cific short rhythmic and melod-ic pattern) and ira, ira, ira, ira, ira (to play sixteenth notes).
Using the teach-er’s model of playing
- Emphasizing the wide technical capacity of the siku and its teaching.
- Depending on the most suit-able way for the student.
playing together with the student
- As a parameter for the student.
- In a musical dialogue, max two students per year.
Figure 3: Similarities and differences between Bolivian and Peruvian tools concerning learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the siku.
51
5.3. The Quena
5.3.1. Learning a tune—listening to the teacher and recordings for help
Encinas
Encinas does not use recordings for help when learning a tune.
My work is a compilation of the Bolivian music from the 19th and 20th centu-
ries, written as scores. I studied them, controlling and respecting the orna-
ments as they were written. We have to be careful not to distort the tune. We
need to come back to the essence of the tune.
Ornaments in traditional Andean music are an essential characteristic for pre-
serving the essence of the tune. Before recordings of Bolivian music were avail-
able, the music was preserved as scores, which were carefully collected and
studied by Encinas.
Encinas did not listen to a particular teacher or other players when learning a
tune. He listened to the radio and to friends playing to learn how to play tunes
on the quena, which he then transcribed as scores. By teaching himself from
various sources, such as going to concerts and rehearsals, he has made his own
style of learning, finding the various techniques and elements on the quena.
Arias
Arias consider recordings to be a great source for learning a tune from both a
technical and stylistic perspective:
I use recordings as an aid for learning a tune. They provide inspiration from
the original source of interpretation. It depends on the style. When it is a tradi-
tional tune, it is very important because we have to go to the essence, the spi-
rit, the breathing and articulation and we use recordings as a reference for
comparison and to perform in relation to it.
Arias uses recordings to help students orient themselves in the music and work
out their weaknesses. Recordings can illustrate technical aspects or the inter-
pretation of a specific style.
52
In traditional Andean music, listening to a record played by a teacher will help
to give the student a clear understanding of the breathing, articulation and tim-
bre of the instrument as applied in the melody, rhythm, dynamics and especial-
ly ornamentation of the tune (See track 3 of the DVD). The student begins by
imitating specific sections, concentrating on all the mentioned elements and
analyzing each of them. Then, in order to understand the essence of the style
and to collect all the sections that he has imitated and analyzed, the student will
play many times along with the record. In this way the student will master the
technical elements and especially the spirit of the tune.
As a student, Arias listened to other teachers as he learned new tunes. He af-
firms that it was a great and necessary inspiration to successfully complete the
learning process. But today, he does not often listen to other players because he
would like concentrate more on himself, working with his own style and sound.
Pariona
Pariona also uses recordings as a tool for learning a tune, emphasizing that it is
useful for learning the different styles of Peruvian music and their ornamenta-
tion. Peruvian music has a wide variety of different styles, including music from
the coast, the Andes and the Amazon jungle. For example, there are more than
200 musical styles in the South-Andean part of Peru, each of which also has its
own type of dance. With so many styles of traditional music, recordings are
needed in order to learn the essence and techniques of each style—especially
the ornamentations, which are important elements for distinguishing the vari-
ous styles. (See track 1 of the DVD)
Pariona mentions that listening to his teachers and other players was a big help
when learning new tunes. When he was a student, he was going specifically to
his teachers’ concerts and rehearsals and now he listens to them through their
recordings: Alejandro Vivanco on the quena (his teacher) and the famous
French flute virtuoso Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000) on the flute.
53
5.3.2. Practicing a tune—content and methods
Encinas
When Encinas was a student, he practiced Bolivian Andean music after school
for approximately five hours a day. He considered this level of practice to be
somewhat fanatical in view of his very busy life and intensive regular studies at
the high school:
I often practiced melodies directly; I did not get any lesson for embouchure or
technique. The first melody that I learned was with Ernesto Cavour, who
played for me the A part of a melody on the first day and the B part on the
second day. It was simple melody called “Kullawa.”
Encinas is the typical representative of oral Andean tradition. He learned the
quena and its playing techniques by listening to several sources, including
friends, radio, family, etc. He did not stick to one source. This is a unique cha-
racteristic of the oral Andean tradition, where imitation and memory alone
were used to learn the “Kullawa” melody. This is a traditional Bolivian melody
that is easy for beginners to learn because of its simple musical structure. Enci-
nas learned it from a friend, part-by-part, using imitation and memory as the
essential tools of learning.
Encinas also studies flute at the conservatory in La Paz, but on an irregular
schedule due to his intensive schedule of rehearsals and international concerts
on the quena. He started his education in the 70s and finished in the 90s.
As a master, he practices five hours daily. In the morning, he practices one hour
of his own exercises of slow and long notes, with scales to maintain a good em-
bouchure (See track 5 of the DVD). In the afternoon he practices a repertoire
with his two bands for four hours. He considers teaching to another way to
practice. Teaching requires a deep understanding of your daily practicing in
order to help the student understand a particular subject.
Arias
As a student, Arias practiced four hours a day at irregular hours. Because he
was an autodidact, Arias did not practice on a fixed schedule, but practiced
54
whenever possible between his studies and domestic duties. He started with
traditional Andean music:
I come from Cuzco and my inspiration was a teacher from Apurimac (a city in
the south-central Andean region of Peru). He is not well known. He taught me
to play music from the central Andean region of Peru for a group of traditional
dancers.
In traditional Andean music, dancers and musical groups usually play together.
Some music groups also dance while they are playing, as with groups from the
Altiplano, where Mamani comes from. However, other music groups, such as
those from Cuzco and Apurimac, do not dance while they play. In the oral tradi-
tion, a musician learns and practices the music from his or her own area. Arias
is from Cusco and therefore practiced music from the central-Andean region of
Peru.
As a teacher, Arias practices just two hours per day due to his family and teach-
ing responsibilities. He affirms also that he can practice while he teaches:
As a teacher, I become more experienced; I prepare materials for ensembles,
and I adapt the techniques of other instruments for the quena. I have made my
own exercises for developing the timbre and practice chromatic scales for
playing more complex tunes.
Arias is an innovative person when he practices and teaches on the quena. He
also practices the flute every day, so he has developed more possibilities for the
quena. For example, he prepares material for ensembles and his own exercises
using chromatic scales, which are not characteristic of traditional music, but re-
flect the influence of his flute playing.
Pariona
As a student, Pariona practiced between two and three hours a day because his
father and teachers considered this amount to be required to progress on the
instrument:
I practiced with great happiness and passion. My father, who was my first
master on the quena, taught me some wayños and carnavales from Huanta in
55
the oral tradition. My father told me some stories about how they sing and
dance. I practiced my repertoire routinely and from memory, sometimes at
home and often in the fields and at the beach. It is best to practice the quena
outdoors because of the direct contact with the nature.
Wayño comes from the word in quechua “Huaillu,” which means affection. Carnaval
is another style, which represents festivals in the Andes and the lifestyle of the
towns there. Both styles are played in Huanta, a town in Ayacucho, which is also a
city in the south-central part of Peru.
Figure 4: Example of Peruvian wayño: “Toro-torito” (small bull) (traditional anonymous)
played on the quena.
Pariona learned tunes on the quena following the traditional Andean oral tradition,
practicing in direct contact with nature, a peculiar characteristic of this tradition
that inspired him in his practicing. His father taught him to play the quena while
singing Andean stories. Pariona learned the quena by imitation as his basic tool. He
played from memory, repeating each tune many times through a routine of daily
practice.
After some years, Pariona began to study with Vivanco, who created a formal
notation for the quena. Vivanco gave him a routine of exercises in breathing,
embouchure, articulation and scales. Pariona also incorporated flute exercises
for the quena.
As a teacher, Pariona practices four hours daily. “I practice by establishing an
order and a system—a group of things which are related with the musical prac-
tice.” Pariona established an itinerary for the preparation of the body, including
running, relaxation exercises and musical exercises for the technique, includ-
ing: scales, short and long notes, different kinds of phrases, dynamics, etc. He
56
prepares various repertoires for soloists or groups in different styles, including
traditional Peruvian and Latin American music, sonatas, etc.
He emphasizes also that it is important to update his techniques continuously
and with a creative attitude. He refers to this renovation of techniques as “mu-
tually reinforcing.”
5.3.3. Teaching pupils how to practice
Encinas
Encinas teaches his students to practice different exercises of posture, breath-
ing, and articulation. Because of his previous flute studies at the conservatory
in La Paz, he transfers these kinds of exercises from the flute to the quena.
Arias
Arias creates a comfortable environment for his pupils, understanding their ca-
pacities and following all technical exercises when practicing a tune.
Arias starts using preparatory exercises: posture, breathing, fingering, sound,
and chromatic scales. He makes them understand deeply that the quena is an
extension of the body. He means that one has to feel the quena while playing in
order to have a deep and strong emotional interpretation of each specific music
style. The other part is the repertoire; he prepares a tune first by playing exer-
cises in the scale of the tune, using different rhythmic intervals in a progressive
way.
Pariona
Pariona stresses the schedule as a basic tool for practice. Pariona organizes a
schedule with technical exercises, expecting his students to fulfill the daily de-
mands of that schedule in order to make progress and notice whether they
have practiced well.
57
5.3.4. Teaching a tune—framework: technical exercises and words
Encinas
Encinas teaches students between 13 and 70 years old. He does not teach a
specific style. He teaches them the basic technique using scales and some melo-
dies of traditional Andean music; and he invites them to play in his two orches-
tras. One of them is a carnival orchestra of 50 members who are amateurs play-
ing charango, guitar and quena. His other orchestra is for more advanced stu-
dents from his courses.
Encinas uses exercises made of short and long notes with the help of scales for
the embouchure and exercises for breathing, postures and articulation. He does
not use any special vocabulary to describe the music while teaching.
Arias
Arias teaches students from 16 years old. He teaches traditional Andean music,
Peruvian music with Western classical arrangements and classical music.
He applies technical exercises depending on the repertoire that he will use. For
example, in traditional Andean music he uses pentatonic scales and ornamenta-
tion. He emphasizes, “Without ornamentation there is no traditional Andean
music.” As mentioned before, ornamentation is probably the most important
element in this music. He uses glissandos (which are very often used), rubatos,
singing while playing, etc. He uses words from the musical vocabulary of clas-
sical Western music.
Pariona
Pariona’s students are between 16 and 27 years old. He teaches traditional Pe-
ruvian Andean music and also tunes in the classical style, such as Piazzola, Bach
and Vivaldi.
He teaches technical exercises from his own method for trumpet and flute for
the quena. He uses words from the musical vocabulary of classical Western
music.
58
5.3.5. Using the teacher’s model of playing and playing together with the students
Encinas
Encinas uses his own playing as a model for his students, playing together with
them during lessons with his two groups. He emphasizes to all these members
that they should play technically like him, including the physical movements.
Arias
Arias also uses his playing as a model and plays together with the students dur-
ing the lesson. He emphasizes that these processes are important because, in
the beginning, the student imitates the teacher while being helped by Arias’s
method book. In this way the student can progressively become independent,
choosing his own way after building a foundation on the mentioned processes.
Pariona
Because the teacher is also an artist, the students will benefit from using the
teacher’s own playing as a model; this is an important process in Pariona’s
teaching. “We call it a clinic because the teacher is the doctor and the student
the patient.”
The teacher becomes a doctor who treats the student and refines all of the mis-
takes in the repertoire over several years of training. At the same time, the stu-
dent will use listening, imitation and memory in order to follow effectively the
teacher’s instructions. In this process, the student will develop self-confidence
because of the intelligent and caring education from the teacher, enabling the
student to continue to work independently.
59
Summary of findings for the quena
The table below summarizes my findings related to the quena, and is inspired by
Ljungar-Chapelon (2008).
Quena
Bolivia Peru
Learning a tune
Listening to records and the teachers
- Records: not used, instead uses sheet mu-sic.
- Teachers: once direct-ly, other sources: radio, concerts rehearsals.
- Records: real source for the interpretation for the traditional music especially ornaments.
-Teachers: as a student, but not now: more concentrated on his own style and sound (Arias).
Practicing a tune
Content and me-thods, as a stu-dent
- 5 hours a day of Boli-vian Andean music.
- Four irregular daily hours to play for traditional dance of Andean music from central Peru (Arias).
-Two-three hours daily: playing techniques, traditional Andean music, with its techniques. Inte-grating flute exercises for the quena (Pariona).
Content and me-thods, as a teach-er
- Five hours daily: 1 h. own exercises on the quena and 4 h. with his bands Bolivian music. Practicing while he is teaching.
- Two hours a day and integrat-ing flute exercises on the quena (Arias).
- Four daily hours and updating of exercises and techniques (Pariona).
- Both made their own exercises for sound and scales; Peruvian and classical music. They practice while they teach. Imita-tion and memory are useful tools.
Informing the stu-dent
- Playing techniques and flute exercises on the quena.
- Playing techniques consider-ing the quena is a part of the student’s body. Letting them understand their capacity and creating a confident atmos-phere. Repertoire: playing exer-cises with the scale of the tune with different rhythmical inter-vals (Arias).
- Organizing their schedule. Exercises for body and playing techniques on the instrument. Preparation of repertories (Pa-riona)
60
Quena
Bolivia Peru
Teaching a tune
The framework: technical exercis-es and words
- Students of 13 to 70. Not a specific style
- Exercises: long and short notes, playing techniques on the in-strument, scales, and play in his two bands.
- Does not use special concepts to help his teaching.
- From 16 and traditional and classical Peruvian music (Arias). From 16 to 27 and tradi-tional Peruvian and classical international as well. (Pariona).
- Technical exercises: Pentaton-ic scales and glissandos, ruba-tos and singing while playing (Arias). Own exercises from his method book and exercises from trumpet and flute (Pario-na).
- Use of concepts: words as in classical Western music, for example how to play a huayno from apurimac (Arias and Pa-riona).
Using the teach-er’s model of play-ing
- He does - Arias and Pariona do it to en-sure that the student can be independent in choosing his own way. Arias uses his own method book.
playing together with the student
- He does - The students imitate and then they can be independent (Arias). Like a Clinic: the teach-er is the doctor and the student the patient. He gives self-confidence to the student (Pa-riona)
Figure 5: Similarities and differences between Bolivian and Peruvian tools concerning learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the quena.
5.4. Conclusion
The data presents my findings on this study which makes a clear understanding of
the different tools used by my interviewees concerning learning, practicing and
teaching a tune on the quena and the siku in Bolivia and Peru. My interview guide
contains an outline of different topics divided in three categories: learning, practic-
ing and teaching a tune. Each of them, in the same time, has also its sub-categories
indicating other topics and their sequence guided by an interview question. In this
way, each of my interview questions has contributed to knowledge production and
a good interview interaction.
The content of each category has shown interesting similarities not only between
Bolivia and Peru but also with western classical flute playing. For instance by
61
learning a tune is important to listen records and teachers; the integration of flute
exercises on the quena by practicing the scales and rhythmical patterns of the
tune; by playing together the teacher with the student is an essential tool for teach-
ing a tune, not only because the student follows the teacher’s model of playing but
also contributes with the development of the self-confidence of the student so
he/she can be gradually independent. In this way my findings on this chapter will
contribute with more valuable options for the playing and teaching of the Andean
flutes not only technically but also as an important example of knowledge which
can unify efforts of both countries to a continue artistic and pedagogical future re-
search on both instruments.
62
Chapter 6 Discussion
This study examines five professional musicians and teachers, all of whom perform
at an expert level and furthermore are involved in a roughly equivalent musical
context. Despite the many differences, there are also similarities between the in-
terviewees. They all seek to communicate a clear image of their conception of the
approaches to learning, practicing and teaching a tune. They all refer to these con-
cepts regardless of whether they subscribe to a given ideal or take distance from it
in order to use other tools. In a pedagogical situation, all are tolerant towards to
variation of solutions where the students can feel comfortable.
As students, Mamani and Ponce learned tunes by listening to recordings or work-
ing with a teacher or master. They used imitation and memory as essential ele-
ments in the process. The oral tradition is applied through Mamani’s technique of
listening to the masters and going to their villages. This is a different approach
than Ponce’s.
Andean traditional music originated in the villages and represents that lifestyle,
mentality and soul. When seeking to capture the essence and style of a tune, its
techniques and its spirit, the student will often gain more by visiting the villages
than by just listening to records because records capture only the sound of the
tune.
By visiting the villages, the student obtains a complete understanding not only
through hearing the tune, but also through seeing the masters, observing how they
play and experiencing their charisma (Saljö, 2000). After absorbing these elements
of listening and seeing, the student can interview the teacher and share his impres-
sions, asking questions in order to gain a deeper understanding. This way (Mama-
ni’s way) of learning a tune in the Andean tradition is more holistic than Ponce’s.
As a student, Mamani had an irregular practice schedule because he considers the
instrument to be a part of one’s life. In traditional Andean music, the siku is prac-
63
ticed when you wish to sing, whistle, or play in a band for a village ceremony or
festival; you don’t require the discipline of regular practice. In this natural way, the
student practices a tune in the fields, school and the band.
Even though this style of music was still in the process of being systemized for
teaching, Mamani approached it in the Western way, reading music scores. He fo-
cused on the difficult parts in the score with the help of his teacher.
Ponce began by playing in an urban group in the Bolivian Andean tradition. He
was ambitious, seeking always to improve his skill to better compete with the
many other local musicians playing in a similar style. This gave Ponce the discip-
line to practice four to six hours a day, focusing on the position of the notes, the
quantity of the air for each of them and their sound quality. He built a repertoire
even though he does not read music and lacks a formal knowledge of music theory.
The Andean tradition of learning and practicing village music does not engender a
strong ambition to explore other styles, thus limiting the technical exploration of
the siku (as can be seen in Mamani’s style). On the other hand, growing up in an
urban musical setting (such as Ponce experienced) places one in a so-called bohe-
mian environment, which generally does not allow for the time and energy needed
to learn music reading and many other aspects of music theory. Generally, musi-
cians coming from the villages have less extravagant habits than those from the
city.
Ponce benefits from the competitive attitude of the urban setting, which fostered
an explorative spirit and discipline as he improved his playing, in his case more so
than Mamami.
The advantage for Mamani is that his village background provided more possibili-
ties to study formally, where music actually was performed, characterized by a
slow and secure process of learning.
Ponce’s discipline focuses on those aspects that interest him in relation to his
projects, but ignores those aspects of reading and music theory normally asso-
ciated with a musical education. I think discipline in music is related to finding the
energy and time to study while leaving unnecessary habits behind, thus covering
64
not only what one is interested in, but also what one needs for a complete technical
understanding of different tools. This enables better communication with musi-
cians of all levels.
As a teacher, Mamani still practices irregularly, now due to his teaching and family
responsibilities. Ponce practices two to three hours daily, but it is jazz music with
its different technical exercises. He uses more of his time on the five types of ele-
ments, applying it also to his daily life in order to transmit “good energy” through
his playing; he seeks to create a therapy for society through realizing the coexis-
tence of three elements: the artist, the instrument and the incorporation in our life
of the five types of daily elements.
Ponce is a pioneer of the siku, integrating technical exercises from jazz and other
elements of Western music and developing a new versatility for this instrument.
He is also the only performer in this study who integrates the five types of daily
elements into his music.
Mamani informs his students about how a traditional group develops its characte-
ristics and he is beginning to follow the discipline in Western classical music.
Ponce instead encourages his students to advance the technical aspects of their
playing and to incorporate the mentioned five daily elements. The ambition from
Ponce is more systematic and larger than Mamani’s due to the additional elements
in his interpretation, which will be described later.
The differences here is when Mamani informs his students about practicing, he
does it based on the Andean tradition, which it is not so technically developed as
Ponce’s approach, which incorporates jazz music. But Mamani is interested in
practicing in a more systematic way that resembles the discipline of Western clas-
sical music. Both ways are important, depending on which style the student will be
engaged in.
Concerning teaching a tune, the similarities are that both teachers teach technical
exercises in Andean traditional music to young students in their 20s, but Ponce
also teaches jazz music and students over 30. Another difference is that Mamani
teaches using sheet music (as in Western music) or numbered notation, while
65
Ponce uses the creativity of improvisation based constantly on intuition and imita-
tion. He does not have a formalized knowledge of music theory. If a basic know-
ledge of reading scores (Mamani) could be combined with a refined ability of imi-
tation and intuition (Ponce), it would provide a broader understanding and easier
communication with all kinds of musician. In my opinion, every musician should be
educated with intuition, imitation and music theory as basic tools to learn, practice
and then teach a tune.
This combination of both teachers’ abilities is characteristic for a jazz musician,
who plays by ear (memory, imitation and intuition) while at the same time sight-
reading the melody and chords and improvising.
To create a traditional Andean music atmosphere during a teaching session, Ma-
mani uses quechua words as a tool for teaching, while Ponce uses Spanish words
and words from Western music such as jazz.
Both teachers use the teacher’s model of playing, but with different purposes. Ma-
mani is flexible on this point, depending on whether it is useful for the student. In
this way the student will develop the intelligence and common sense to decide
which aspects will be useful for integration into his or her own daily playing.
Teaching is a synonym for long experience, but Ponce represents a milestone in the
development of the siku due to his integration of jazz. Therefore, Ponce emphasiz-
es his long experience on the siku as a contribution to his teaching, using this in-
strument for the first time in a setting of spontaneous creativity and improvisation.
Mamani and Ponce play together with their students during their teaching ses-
sions. Mamani would like to assemble a full-sized group of siku players for his ses-
sions, but he has only 1-2 students per year. I am impressed by Mamani’s work in
developing a formalized system for teaching the siku. It is a new experience for me
to see this instrument taught at an Academy because most musicians in Peru pre-
fer to play Western instruments. One reason for this is that teaching methods are
more developed for other instruments than for the siku, and there are few possibil-
ities to get a job teaching the siku or quena.
66
Ponce mentioned that he often plays together with his students to provide a model
for playing. Especially for first-year students, it is important to develop good habits
and a good embouchure and tone right away because these can be difficult to cor-
rect later.
When it comes to learning a tune on the quena, Encinas, Pariona and Arias focus on
keeping the essence of the interpretation of Andean music. Pariona and Arias use
records and listen to other teachers in order to learn a tune, while Encinas uses
sheet music and listens to teachers on the radio and at concerts.
In my experience, listening to records is more effective for learning a tune than
reading only from scores. Through the sound on a record, one gets the essence of
the style and how a specific ornamentation is played. If the student reads the score
without listening, either by radio or concert, he will play the ornamentation as it is
written without understanding the essence and feeling of the tune. In this way his
playing will be as said in the Andean music tradition “without taste.”
Concerning practicing a tune, as students, they practiced Andean music in different
ways: Encinas learned melodies from different sources using imitation and memo-
ry as tools of practicing. Arias learned tunes from the Central Part of Peru from his
teacher and practiced playing for a dance group. Pariona also uses imitation plus
different technical exercises for the quena and exercises from the flute for the que-
na as well. Arias comes from the Andean region, where imitation is traditionally
used most of the time when practicing a tune.
Pariona and Encinas come from urban cities, where students not only use imitation
when practicing a tune, but also techniques developed for other Western instru-
ments such as flute. The advantage of coming from an urban city is that the student
gets more practicing tools than a student who comes from a village.
As teachers, creativity plays an important role for my interviewees. Encinas prac-
tices in the morning and plays with his two bands at night. Pariona updates tech-
niques in order to renovate them daily and Arias integrates flute exercises for the
quena. Their creativity is based on searching for their own sound and style in a
repertoire that they are willing to perform. Arias, Pariona use imitation and memo-
67
ry in their daily practicing through their own exercises of sound and scales with
Peruvian and classical music. Encinas also uses the same tools but only for Bolivian
music. All of them have decreased the quantity of practicing because of their family
and teaching duties, but they practice while they teach.
Encinas, Arias and Pariona teach their students how to practice by giving them ex-
ercises of playing techniques to prepare for a repertoire. Arias is more sensitive to
how the student will feel and gives them different exercises for practicing. Arias
and Pariona have a more technical approach. Pariona helps students to make an
organized schedule for practicing. He trains them with body exercises.
Arias creates a secure, comfortable atmosphere, helping his students understand
their capacities. He makes them play exercises in the scale of the tune. He empha-
sizes that the students should imagine the quena as a part of their bodies. In this
way the quena will be integrated in the personality of the player. Therefore, the
daily preparation of the student will not only be characterized by a technical pers-
pective, but also by the mentioned coexistence of three elements to which Ponce
refers.
The three interviewees work with Andean traditional music from their countries,
teaching pupils ranging from teenagers to retirees. Arias and Pariona teach West-
ern classical music, using a Western musical vocabulary when at the Academy,
where this type of terminology is well integrated. In my opinion they should use
some traditional words, as Mamani does, because they work with Andean music.
Encinas stated in the interview that he does not use any special musical terminolo-
gy in his teaching. However, I actually did observe him using some special termi-
nology when teaching his groups. In my opinion he did not understand my ques-
tion concerning words in his teaching even though I explained it to him a few
times. Arias uses pentatonic scales and different ornamentations; Encinas uses
various exercises on the instrument and tune; Pariona uses his own exercises from
his method book and exercises adapted from the flute and trumpet. The advantage
of integrating flute exercises for the quena is that the student gains the ability to
play chromatically and therefore can also play classical Western music.
68
Arias, Pariona and Encinas use the teacher’s model of playing and play together
with the student in a teaching session. Arias’ and Pariona’s purposes are similar;
Pariona does it in order to give self-confidence to the student, comparing the
teacher with a doctor and the student with the patient; Arias does it to ensure that
the student can be independent to choose his own way of playing. Self-confidence
and independence are attitudes that must be imparted when teaching a tune. In
this way the student will be able in the long or short term to teach a tune success-
fully to other students.
6.1. Using my findings in a music school
My experiences as a music teacher have been useful during this study. I have been
teaching flute, chromatic siku and the De La Calle quena flute to pupils in several
music schools in Malmö and Copenhagen. There are several similarities between
my findings and the structure of a lesson in a music school using imitation and
memory as main tools.
A normal lesson is based on practicing exercises and techniques: position, breath-
ing exercises, embouchure when playing short and long notes, exercises of articu-
lation with simple, double and triple tongue. Then the pupil will play rhythmical
patterns and the scales of the tune. The student will listen to the tune as I play it.
Then the student will play it alone and we will focus in the difficult parts, giving
technical exercises to the student in order to solve these difficulties. I am usually
flexible with the student, understanding his or her capacity for learning. We also
play together so I can be a model for the student, creating a comfortable atmos-
phere.
My study has revealed some results that indicate how teaching could be improved
at Western music schools. These are discussed below.
A music-school teacher normally interacts mostly on technique when learning and
practicing a tune. Teachers rarely encourage students to cultivate awareness of the
types of daily elements incorporated into our life. If we were to incorporate this,
students could benefit by learning to project this “good” energy into their perfor-
mance.
69
I have observed, when working in Western music schools, that pupils often lack
respect for others, especially teachers and parents. This hurts the students’ under-
standing of the technical subjects being taught because without respect the capaci-
ty of listening to others will be considerably reduced. In this situation the student
will not learn to use this good energy and will lose the balance and harmony
needed to have a good performance.
Introducing students to many different folk-music traditions will expand the stu-
dents’ possibilities. Folk music relates to the feelings of a culture and it helps de-
velop the expressiveness of our performances. From a technical standpoint, differ-
ing traditions introduce the student to new and interesting scales and rhythmical
patterns, which would not be noticed if he or she were to stick to a single tradition.
Introducing improvisation to all music students will contribute to the creativity of
the student. The student will be able to play not only technically as it is on the
score but also to develop the creativity to imitate and improvise melodies by ear.
The pupil will learn to play spontaneously and to relate with other musicians while
playing a tune.
Encouraging the student to understand the instrument as an extension of his or
her body will help the pupil to integrate more quickly and easily the instructions
from the teacher. The pupil will interact with more attention and care with the in-
strument, cultivating spontaneity while learning and practicing a tune.
6.2. Relating my findings to other traditions and the origins of the Andean flutes
My findings in this study show some similarities with other music traditions where
I have been deeply involved during several years, for instance the Indian flute tra-
dition. Shashank Subramanyan, an Indian flute master, used purely oral transmis-
sion when teaching about the rhythmic improvisation aspect, engaging me through
imitation and memory (Shankar, 1983). He instructed me to follow other musi-
cians, basically by listening to records or other masters in order to gain knowledge
of different sounds, melodies and movements. This method is also applied in the
Andean tradition. He encouraged me to integrate the basic rhythmic improvisation
70
of Carnatic music, the classical music of South India, with my daily improvisation
on the quena and siku (Shankar, 1983).
The origins of the quena and the siku and Ponce’s application of the five daily ele-
ments integrated in our life makes a contribution that combines a technical inter-
pretation of the tools from my findings in learning, practicing and teaching a tune
on both instruments.
The quality of our personality enables us to transmit the “good energy” to which
Ponce refers. It enables us to integrate ourselves with the daily five elements in-
corporated in our daily life, where we are part of nature and must keep balance
and harmony with this nature and other living entities. In this way the personality
of the performer plays an important role for transmitting the best of oneself which
will be connected to the origins of these instruments and be able to realize their
purpose (Vivanco, 1987): “The quena is a hole, in the sense of an opening where
the soul gives the best of oneself; it is the opening or aperture of life,” (Pariona,
2006, p. 11).
During my investigation of this subject, I had the opportunity to go through per-
sonal experiences on the quena and siku in Japan at the Noh Art Theater and in
India, learning about the bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) way of playing by integrat-
ing these experiences on the Andean flutes. These experiences expanded and en-
hanced my understanding of the true purpose of both instruments.
Both Asian traditions, the Japanese and Indian, seek to create a total integration
through the unity of the artist’s heart and mind with the instrument by learning,
practicing and performing a tune (Shankar, 1986; Soga, 2009). In both traditions,
this fact was based on building a foundation of the artist’s personality, which
means understanding the essence of knowledge of the soul (Bhaktinoda, 2007) and
staying in harmony and balance between himself and his surroundings through
different moral values, paying attention if possible to every detail in one’s own life
(Bhaktivinoda, 2007; Nishihira, 2009).
For example, in India, the traditional training for players of wind instruments, like
the bansuri, begins by teaching the student to practice meditation every day before
71
learning, practicing and performing a tune (Shankar, 1983). In this way, they can
develop their intuition and creativity and be sensitive to the inner energy, follow-
ing its flow while they learn, practice and perform a tune (Bhaktivinoda, 2009). I
learned to experience the quena and siku through their ways of learning, practicing
and performing a tune, which is to integrate the instruments’ sound to the flow of
the inner life-force energy (Soga, 2009).
The traditional approach to quena-playing reflects its original use for meditation
by pre-Incan priests approximately 5000 years ago (Pariona, 2006). In my opinion
the integration of the quena and siku sound into the flow of the inner life-force
energy was characteristic of the original approach to playing the Andean flutes.
This energy is quite similar to the Japanese concept ki (vital energy) and the Indian
prana (vital energy) (Shankar, 1983; Soga, 2009) which I have been taught to use
in the same way as one plays the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and the ban-
suri.
The daily integration of the five elements developed intuitively in me because of
the nature of the quena and the siku. In this way, the application of these elements
becomes an innovative approach for all kinds of performers and teachers within
Western classical music or non-European flute traditions.
6.3. Future research
I would like to follow-up this study by investigating the traditional approaches to
making music within the Incan, Japanese and Indian flute traditions and to com-
pare the tools they use for playing and teaching so that I could integrate them into
the artistic, technical and pedagogical aspects of the quena and siku. For example,
by exploring technical aspects such scales, rhythmical patterns and ornaments.
6.4. Conclusion
The interviewees in this study shared this valuable data with a generous and hon-
est attitude. I could see some times a lack of information from my interviewees. I
had to ask them immediately through spontaneous new questions during the in-
terview or later on when I traveled myself again to Bolivia and Peru. In this way I
72
got the parts of the data I needed in order to fit each data in a coherent analysis
and interpretation concerning the tools in learning, practicing and teaching a tune
on the quena and the siku in Bolivia and Peru.
The findings presented here could contribute with new options for learning, prac-
ticing and teaching a tune on the quena and the siku; for instance considering the
quena as a part of the student’s body which creates understanding of playing and
teaching these instruments. These findings could inspire a future investigation and
a comparison between how to integrate siku and quena traditions with Japanese
and Indian flute traditions from an artistic, technical and pedagogical perspective.
73
7. REFERENCES
Literature
Baumman, Max Peter. (1996). Cosmología y música en los Andes. Madrid:
Iberoamericana.
Bhaktivinoda, Thakura. (2007). Jaiva-Dharma. Vrndavana: Publicaciones Gaudiya
Vedanta.
Cavour, Ernesto. (1994). Los Instrumentos Musicales de Bolivia. La Paz:
Producciones CIMA.
De La Calle Aramburu, Luis (2009). The Quena and The siku: A comparison between
Bolivian and Peruvian Playing Technics. Malmö: Malmö Academy of Music, Lund
University.
De La Calle Aramburu, Luis & Ljungar-Chapelon, Anders (2005). How to play The
De La Calle quena flute and a collection of Peruvian music. Malmö: Malmö Academy
of Music, Lund University.
Fink-Jensen, K. (2006). Hermeneutiske perspektiver på musikalsk samhandling.
I F. V. Nielsen & S. Graabraeck Nielsen (Eds.), Nordisk musikpedagogisk forskning.
Årbok 8 2006, s. 9–31. Oslo: Norges Musikkhögskole.
Finnegan, Ruth (1988). Literacy & orality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. (2007). Verdad y Método I. Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. (2006). Verdad y Método II. Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1991). La actualidad de lo bello. Barcelona: Ediciones
Paidos.
74
Gutiérrez Condori, Ramiro & Gutiérrez Condori, E. Iván (2009). Música, Danza y
Ritual en Bolivia: Una aproximación a la cultura musical de los Andes, Tarija y El
Chaco Boliviano. La Paz: Derechos reservados.
Grondin, Jean (2003). Introducción a Gadamer. Barcelona: Herder Editorial, S.L.
Grondin, Jean (2008). Qué es la hermenéutica. Barcelona: Herder Editorial, S.L.
Guaman Poma de Ayala (1615/2007). Crónica y gobierno de Felipe Guamán Poma
de Ayala. Mexico: Editorial de Mexico.
Holgersen, S.-E. (2006). Den kropslige vending. En fænomenologisk undersøgelse af
musikalsk intersubjektivitet. In F. V. Nielsen & S. Graabraeck Nielsen (Eds.), Nordisk
musikpedagogisk forskning. Årbok 8 2006, s. 33–57. Oslo: Norges Musikkhögskole.
Kvale, Steinar. (1996). Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Inter-
viewing. London & New Delhi: Sage publications.
Ljungar-Chapelon, Anders (2008). Le respect de la tradition. Om den franska
flöjtkonsten: dess lärande, hantverk och estetik i ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv.
Musikhögskolan i Malmö, Lunds universitet.
Monteagudo, Cecilia & Turbino, Fidel. (2009). Hermenéutica en Diálogo: Ensayos
sobre alteridad, lenguaje e interculturalidad. Lima: Fondo editorial de la Pontificia
Universidad Católica del Perú.
Monteagudo, Cecilia. (2009). Hermenéutica y ciencias humanas. Lima. Foro Jurídico.
Revista de Derecho.
Nationalencyklopedin (1992). Höganäs: Bokförlaget Bra Böcker AB.
Nishihira, Tadashi (2009): Philosophical Investigation into the Zeami teaching of
exercise and expertise. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Pariona Molina, David. (2006). Method of quena conerning the theoretic part.
Lima: Academy of Folk Music "Jose María Arguedas".
75
Peters, G. David & Miller, Robert F. (1982). Music teaching and learning.
New York & London: Longman Music Series/Series Editor: Gerald Warfield.
Phillips, Kenneth H. (2008). Exploring Research in Music Education and Music Ther-
apy. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Revista del centro universitario de Folklore. UNMSN. (2007). Todo Siku/ri: Estudios
en torno al siku y al sikuri. Lima: Centro de Producción Editorial e Imprenta de la
UNMSM.
Saljö, Robert. (2000). Lärande i raktiken: ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Stockholm:
Norstedts Akademiska Forlag.
Stobar, Henry & Howard, Rosaleen. (2002). Knowledge and learning in the Andes:
Ethnographic perspectives. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Schippers, Huib. (2010). Facing The Music: Shaping music education from a global
perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shankar, Vidya. (1983). The art and science of Carnatic music. Madras: Madras
Academy of Music.
Soga, Takashi. (2009). The Noh Reformation of Zeami. Tokyo: Yuzankaku.
Suzuki, Shinichi. (1977). Nurtured By Love: A New Approach to Education.
New York: Exposition Press.
Suzuki, Shinichi. (1981). Ability Development from Age Zero. Ohio: Lawhead Press.
Thevenot, Raymond. (1984). Método de quena. Lima: Editorial Los Pinos.
Valencia Chacon, Valencia. (1983). El Siku Bipolar Altiplanico: Estudio, Metodo, y
Proyeccion del Siku o Zampoña altiplanica. Recopilación y aspectos de la musica el
altiplano. Lima: Impreso por Artex E.I.R.L.
Valencia Chacon, Americo. (1989). The Altiplano Bipolar Siku: Study and Proyection
of Peruvian Pan Pipe Orchestras. Lima: Impreso y Editado por Artex E.I.R.L.
76
Vivanco, Alejandro. (1987). Didáctica de la quena Peruana. Lima: Editorial
Universo S.A.
Ödman, P.-J. (1995). Hermeneutik. In I. Hanken & H. Jörgensen (Eds.), Nordisk mu-
sikpedagogisk forskning. Årbok 2 2005, s. 55–67. Oslo: Norges Musikkhögskole.
77
Internet
Sandberg, Anders. (1999). Minne, minnesteknik och studieteknik. Retrieved 17
March 2010, from Svenska Transhumanistforbundet:
http://www.aleph.se/Projekt/Handbok/Minne.html.
78
Interviews
The following flautists have been interviewed:
David Pariona, December 17, 2006. Lima, Peru.
Jaime Arias, January 4, 2007. Cusco, Peru.
Idel Mamani, January 6, 2007. Puno, Peru.
Carlos Ponce, January 8, 2007. La Paz, Bolivia.
Rolando Encinas, January 11, 2007. La Paz, Bolivia.
79
8. APPENDICES 8.1. Appendix I Interview guide
This appendix describes the questions that I used for the interviews concerning
learning, practicing and teaching a tune on the quena and the siku.
8.1.1. Learning a tune
-Do you use your own playing as a model for your students?
-Do you listen to your teacher or other players as help for learning a tune?
8.1.2. Practicing a tune
-How do you practice, and what do you practice (both as a student and now as a
master)?
-How much did you practice as a student, and how much do you practice today
as a master?
-How do you teach your students how to practice?
8.1.3. Teaching a tune
Which kind of students and within which kind of framework do you teach?
-Do you use technical exercises in your teaching?
-Do you explain with the help of words in your teaching?
-Do you use your own playing as a model for your students?
-Do you play together with your students during a teaching session and lesson?
80
8.2. Appendix II DVD
The DVD shows the process of learning a tune on the quena and Siku by three in-
terviewees (first three tracks). This process is based on: a) Playing a tune in a sim-
ple way without dynamics, ornaments etc. b) Playing a tune adding these elements
gradually. c) Playing a tune as it is.
1. - Raymond Thevenot. Chukikuj. Ayacucho, Peru. (Performed by David Pariona on
the quena)
2. - Anonymous, traditional, Niña Campa. Cochabamba, Bolivia. (Performed by Car-
los Ponce on the Siku)
3. - Anonymous, traditional. Cocakintucha, Ayacucho, Peru. (Performed by Jaime
Arias on the quena)
4. - Carlos Ponce. Chromatic scales on the siku. La Paz 2007.
5. - Rolando Encinas. Short and long notes on the quena. La Paz 2007.
